(NEXSTAR) — In an interview lasting greater than an hour, former CNN reporter Don Lemon and Tesla CEO Elon Musk went backwards and forwards over numerous subjects, together with conspiracy theories, advertiser boycotts on Musk’s X, and the 2024 presidential election.
Throughout the dialogue, posted in full on X, Lemon additionally pressed Musk about his ketamine use.
Musk has repeatedly posted on X about ketamine, saying he believes “ketamine taken often is a greater possibility” for these experiencing melancholy than conventional antidepressants.
When Lemon requested, Musk stated he has a prescription for ketamine, though he pushed again, calling it “fairly non-public to ask somebody a few medical prescription.” He described “occasions when I’ve a type of a unfavorable chemical state in my mind, like melancholy, I assume,” and stated that ketamine might be useful for assuaging “a unfavorable state of mind.”
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Ketamine made headlines late final 12 months when a health worker decided “Buddies” actor Matthew Perry died on account of “the acute results of ketamine.” Perry, 54, was reportedly “receiving ketamine infusion remedy for melancholy and anxiousness.”
Listed here are 3 issues to learn about ketamine and its makes use of:
What’s ketamine?
It was initially developed to be used as a battlefield anesthetic in the course of the Vietnam Struggle, Dr. Caleb Alexander, a professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins and co-director of the Heart for Drug Security and Effectiveness, stated throughout a January podcast episode.
Ketamine, a managed however authorized substance, is now utilized in medical settings as an anesthetic and for treatment-resistant melancholy. It’s recognized to have “some hallucinogenic results,” the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
“Ketamine distorts the notion of sight and sound and makes the person really feel disconnected and never in management,” the DEA explains. “It’s known as a ‘dissociative anesthetic hallucinogen’ as a result of it makes sufferers really feel indifferent from their ache and setting.”
Yale Drugs says that ketamine can set off the mind to type new neural connections which may in flip “give sufferers the chance to develop extra optimistic ideas and habits.”
The Meals and Drug Administration notes that ketamine shouldn’t be authorized for the therapy of any psychiatric dysfunction. In 2019, nevertheless, the company authorized a prescription model of ketamine, a nasal spray often known as esketamine (or Spravato), for hard-to-treat melancholy, in accordance with Harvard Medical Faculty.
Are there security considerations related to ketamine?
Authorities warn that ketamine may cause “dissociative sensations and hallucinogenic results.” Along with the impacts listed above, ketamine can result in different negative effects, like agitation, melancholy, cognitive difficulties, unconsciousness, and amnesia, the DEA outlines.
Alexander defined that the uncomfortable side effects of ketamine might be delayed and will not at all times be short-lived. He provides that there’s a danger of dependancy with ketamine, however there’s not the identical stage of proof in opposition to the drug as there’s for opioids.
The DEA explains that ketamine is understood to be abused by means of injects, mixing a liquid or powder type with one other liquid, or snorting or smoking the powder.
Lemon pressed Musk, asking if he believes he ever abuses medication. In response, Musk stated he doesn’t suppose so, including that, “For those who’ve used an excessive amount of ketamine, you possibly can’t actually get work performed,” he stated. “I’ve a number of work.”
Are there advantages of ketamine?
Whereas there are dangers to the drug, it has been recognized to be efficient on the subject of its meant makes use of.
In response to the Mayo Clinic, ketamine given by means of an IV has been discovered to “present fast reduction” of treatment-resistant melancholy, or TRD. That reduction has been recognized to final for days to weeks, and doses are often given in lowering frequency earlier than probably being tapered off. The nasal spray model, esketamine, has additionally been discovered to ease melancholy signs inside a number of hours. That reduction can final for a number of weeks as effectively.
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Dr. Peter Grinspoon writes in an article for Harvard Well being that the reduction from TRD skilled with using ketamine is often sooner than that seen with antidepressant drugs. He notes, nevertheless, that “ketamine isn’t a first-option therapy for melancholy.”
“It’s usually solely when different, extra longstanding remedies haven’t been efficient,” he explains. “Ketamine doesn’t provide a remedy; fairly, it improves signs of melancholy for a sure period of time.”
Dr. Grinspoon, in addition to Dr. Alexander and different medical specialists, warn in opposition to self-medication. As an alternative, communicate with a healthcare supplier to find out if it’s the best therapy for you.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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