http://goo.gl/X2rH3A
Lead author Colleen Loo is a professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, where she specializes in psychiatry and neurosciences. She describes the finding as a "game-changer in treating depression," and says:
"The real advantage here is that the effect is almost instantaneous and that it appears to work on the majority of patients."
Current drugs for depression can take up to 8 weeks to reach full effect. Also, it is not easy to match the right drug to the right patient, which has to be done by trial and error.
"This could be of real benefit if a patient is suicidal, as it could help yank them out of that really dark place," says Prof. Loo, who also explains how ketamine works:
"Ketamine powerfully reverses structural changes in the brain that occur when someone is depressed. In a sense, the treatment is repairing or reversing those changes."