About Ketamine
Ketamine is a drug used in human and veterinary medicine developed by Parke-Davis in 1962. Its hydrochloride salt is sold as Ketanest, Ketaset, and Ketalar. Pharmacologically, ketamine is classified as an NMDA receptor antagonist. At high, fully anesthetic level doses, ketamine has also been found to bind to opioid μ receptors and sigma receptors. Like other drugs of this class such as tiletamine and phencyclidine , it induces a state referred to as "dissociative anesthesia" and is used as a recreational drug.
Ketamine has a wide range of effects in humans, including analgesia, anesthesia, hallucinations, elevated blood pressure, and bronchodilation. Ketamine is primarily used for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia, usually in combination with some sedative drug. Other uses include sedation in intensive care, analgesia , and treatment of bronchospasm. It has been shown to be effective in treating depression in patients with bipolar disorder who have not responded to other anti-depressants. It is also a popular anesthetic in veterinary medicine.
Ketamine is a chiral compound. Most pharmaceutical preparations of ketamine are racemic; however, some brands reportedly have differences in enantiomeric proportions. The more active enantiomer, -ketamine, is also available for medical use under the brand name Ketanest S. However -ketamine is also active, and has differences in effects; the S enantiomer being a dissociative and the R enantiomer a hallucinogen. -ketamine, -ketamine & racemic -ketamine all have qualitatively separate distinct effect profiles, although S has the most active potency. Ketamine is a core medicine in the World Health Organization's "Essential Drugs List", which is a list of minimum medical needs for a basic health care system.
Ketamine was discovered by Dr. Craig Newlands of Wayne State University. It was then developed by Parke-Davis in 1962 as part of an effort to find a safer anesthetic alternative to phencyclidine , which was likely to cause hallucinations, neurotoxicity and seizures. The drug was first given to American soldiers during the Vietnam War. It is still widely used in humans. It is also used widely in veterinary medicine, or as a battlefield anesthetic in developing nations. The drug was used in psychiatric and other academic research through the 1970s, culminating in 1978 with the publishing of John Lilly's The Scientist and Marcia Moore and Howard Alltounian's Journeys into the Bright World, which documented the unusual phenomenology of ketamine intoxication.
The incidence of recreational ketamine use increased through the end of the century, especially in the context of raves and other parties. The increase in illicit use prompted ketamine's placement in Schedule III of the United States Controlled Substance Act in August 1999. In the United Kingdom, it became outlawed and labeled a Class C drug on 1 January 2006. In Canada ketamine is classified as a Schedule I narcotic, as of August 2005. In Hong Kong, as of year 2000, ketamine is regulated under Schedule 1 of Hong Kong Chapter 134 Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. It can only be used legally by health professionals, for university research purposes, or with a physician's prescription.
Ketamine was invented as CL369, and it was referred to as CI 581 during development at Parke-Davis. Commercial brands of ketamine include "Ketalar, Ketaset, Ketmex, Ketotal, Ketamine-500 and Imalgen". Ketamine is a keto-amine, so named as it has a ketone C=O group bonded to carbons either side, as well as an amine group. As such it resembles NMDA.
Production for recreational use has been traced to 1967, when it was referred to as "mean green" and "rockmesc". Recreational names for ketamine include "K", "Ket", "Special K" and "Vitamin K".
Indications for use as an anaesthetic:
Impairs all senses, especially:
Cardiovascular: