What is Ketamine?
Ketamine is an Anesthetic, Antidepressant, Analgesic, Cardiopulmonary Stimulant, Steroid Modulator, and Hallucinogen
You may ask what is ketamine? Ketamine is a sedative-hypnotic drug that causes profound analgesia along with cardiovascular and respiratory stimulation without altering pharyngeal-laryngeal reflexes or skeletal muscle tone (or slightly enhanced). Medical applications of ketamine drug include anesthesia for short diagnostic and surgical procedures, as an inducing agent, as an adjunct to supplement low-potency anesthetics such as nitrous oxide, and as a supplement to local and regional anesthesia.
Ketamine for depression, PTSD, OCD, autism and other conditions
Ketamine is used for depression as a potentially rapid-acting and long-lasting antidepressant in the proper patient. Ketamine drug is also used as an analgesic to treat chronic pain and neuropathic pain in the proper patient for such pain syndromes as complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) or reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD). Other off-label uses of ketamine drug include ketamine infusion for PTSD, OCD, and autism.
Ketamine drug
Ketamine drug is similar in structure, mechanism of action, and activity to phencyclidine (PCP), but ketamine is much less potent and has a shorter duration of action. In one study, ketamine reduced neurosteroid 17β-estradiol levels while elevating testosterone levels in primary cultured cortical neurons. Ketamine has been associated with substance abuse and illicit use, and some abusers report effects superior to those of PCP or LSD. Reportedly, ketamine has been used to facilitate rape (i.e., acquaintance or date rape) because the drug can be easily administered in beverages to unknowing victims. Slang terms for ketamine include K, Special K, Keets, Green, Jet, Super Acid, and Super C.
Ketamine received FDA approval in 1970 and is a Pregnancy Class C drug. The mechanism of ketamine is quite complex and is discussed elsewhere. The ketamine compound is a well-established anesthetic drug that has been in use for around 50 years.
Formula C13H16ClNO
Chirality = Racemic mixture (R) and (S)
Molar mass = 237.725 g/mol
Melting point = 262 °C (504 °F)