NPR - How An Unlikely Drug Helps Some Children Consumed By Fear

[Diloadid]

As far back as he can remember, George McCann lived in fear. When he was asleep he would have horrific nightmares filled with violent images. When he was awake, he often felt threatened by people, including members of his own family. And when he felt threatened, he would become aggressive, even violent.

George spent his childhood certain that something very bad was going to happen. And when he was 12, it did. His unrelenting fears led to a violent outburst at school. And George landed in a psychiatric hospital.

It was a frightening place for a fearful kid. When staff members tried to restrain him during a confrontation, he fought as if his life were at stake. George was big and strong for his age. But it was no contest.

"I was strapped down at the ankles, across the chest and at my wrists," he says. "And they put me into the room with padded walls, you know. I remember screaming and screaming and screaming."

Today, George is 22 and back at home with his parents, two younger siblings and a dog named Tressel. They live in a small, single-story house within commuting distance of Manhattan.

When George answers the door, it's clear he's grown into a big, sturdy guy. He wears rimless glasses and slightly rumpled clothes. His handshake is surprisingly gentle.

George's passion is movies, which he reviews on his blog. He has even written a couple of scripts. One is a Western. "It's about redemption and whether people can find it or not," he says.

Sitting on the living room couch with his mother, Cydney McCann, George explains how his own redemption came in the form of an inquisitive psychiatrist and the experimental use of a drug called ketamine.

cont. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/201...ely-drug-helps-some-children-consumed-by-fear

 

[Foreigner]

Ketamine for bipolar is nothing new. But thanks for posting this.

 

[Diloadid]

Ketamine for bipolar is nothing new. But thanks for posting this.

Sure there are loads of different studies in the works for ketamine, I just thought this was a really interesting article by NPR standards.

Also, fuck iPads.

 

[pharmakos]

There's one more characteristic of the "fear of harm" profile that's not about behavior at all. These children overheat easily, Papolos says, especially at night.

Once again, George McCann fits the profile. He says he often put an ice pack on his head to help him get to sleep.

After studies showed that these children seemed to be a distinct group, Papolos began wondering whether there might be a better way to treat them. He knew the usual drugs for depression and anxiety and mania weren't enough. So he began looking for a medicine that could reduce fear and simultaneously lower body temperature.

"And lo and behold there were animal studies showing that ketamine did just that," he says.

Ketamine is approved as an anesthetic. It's also a club drug that can cause out-of-body experiences. And research in the past few years shows that ketamine can lift severe depression, often in a matter of minutes.

Papolos thought it just might help the fearful children he was studying. He had a particular child in mind: a seven-year-old girl who had severe nightmares, night terrors, separation anxiety and psychotic symptoms. And, by chance, this little girl was scheduled for a dental procedure that can be done using an inhaled form of ketamine as the anesthetic.

"She got ketamine and for two weeks she was completely asymptomatic," Papolos says. "We had never seen anything like it before." That was five years ago. Today, the girl is still taking ketamine and is still free of symptoms, Papolos says.

After a number of successes with ketamine, Papolos discussed the drug with George and Cydney McCann. By this time, George was in high school and his moods were less extreme. But fear still dominated his life. He was terrified by subway rides. He was too frightened to drive a car.

So when Papolos offered the drug, Cydney McCann wanted George to try it. She didn't want the disorder that had shaped her son's childhood to hold him back as an adult. But George, who still lived in fear of so many things, was afraid to try the new drug.

"I'm going to become some kind of addict," he remembers thinking. "I'm going to die the first time I take this. It's going to change who I am."

But in 2010, George did try Papolos' ketamine treatment. He says he'll remember the day for the rest of his life. "I think we did two puffs and I remember I sat up and I just started laughing," he says. Then his mother picks up the story: "You said you had an internal feeling of calm that you had never had before in your life. And when we came home that night, that was the first night that we ever all had dinner at the table without somebody leaving."

Papolos has treated about 60 young people with ketamine so far and says all but two have had dramatic responses. Interestingly, he says, the two whose behavior did not change were also the only patients whose overheating problems weren't helped by the drug.

It's a surprising and provocative result. But the research is still in its very early stages. The number of patients treated so far is small, and the approach is so new it hasn't been tested by other researchers yet. Papolos says he's hoping a study he published late last year will help persuade other researchers to try the drug on other children.

In the meantime, George McCann continues to inhale a prescribed dose of ketamine every third day. The fear and anger that once dominated his life are gone, he says, adding that his mind is free now to work on that movie script about redemption.

 

[highhooked]

Ah man i would absolutely love to be treated with ketamine. I have spent a while on mxe and every single day was fucking glorious! School, work and everything was better.

Then when my supply ran out...i had cravings and that was fucking it. Lovely drug lovely drug (assuming ketamine and mxe are pretty damn similar).

 

[foolsgold]

i wonder if mxe will be looked in to in the same way

 

[pharmakos]

the article says that the patients need to administer Ketamine once every three days. perhaps MXE's longer half life would mean that they could drop down to weekly dosing or something.

 

[slimvictor]

Drugs can be like angels, saving people's lives, or like devils, destroying people's lives.
Scientific research and solid education based on facts can increase the proportion of angel-like experiences.
The war on drugs is also a war on science and education, and can only increase the devil-like experiences.

 

[panic_the_digital]

Drugs can be like angels, saving people's lives, or like devils, destroying people's lives.
Scientific research and solid education based on facts can increase the proportion of angel-like experiences.
The war on drugs is also a war on science and education, and can only increase the devil-like experiences.

Truth. If only this were the prevailing attitude.

 

[Foreigner]

Heat syndromes are common in people with anxiety, depression, or psychosis. Sometimes it's just a matter of managing the cortisol but other times there is an underlying core imbalance in the body. Western medicine has a hard time dealing with the nights sweats thing.

About MXE, more info still needs to be gathered on it so its safety profile is not yet complete, whereas ketamine is old enough now that there is more certainty. MXE may have a much longer half life but it can potentially be more stimulating than ketamine, produce more heat in the body, and have more lingering negative side effects that last for days (i.e. hangover).

The same can be said for ketamine though. Without more studies we just can't accurately say that MXE has the same therapeutic value as K.

 

[dingophone]

Drugs can be like angels, saving people's lives, or like devils, destroying people's lives.
Scientific research and solid education based on facts can increase the proportion of angel-like experiences.
The war on drugs is also a war on science and education, and can only increase the devil-like experiences.

Yes yes yes. Thank you.

Glutaminergics are definitely a really really interesting target for depression! I remember reading a little while back about a couple of ketamine derivatives in development that showed some success (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanicemine and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLYX-13), and it's pretty well agreed upon that tianeptine's antidepressant affects are related in some way to the NMDA and possibly AMPA systems. I'm not really sure how scientists can claim lanicemide and GLYX-13 are completely devoid of dissociative effects, though. Being weak partial agonists, wouldn't they still cause dissociations in high enough doses or in those vulnerable to it?

I think we honestly should look into MXE and K for depression though. A TON of people seem to be getting help from them. We're talking antidepressant action for literally months! We at least need tianeptine in the states, it's also supposed to be an incredible drug. It's simply retarded that we haven't approved tianeptine for depression here and possibly even more retarded that we aren't doing much in terms of MXE/K research.

 

[neversickanymore]

Drugs can be like angels, saving people's lives, or like devils, destroying people's lives.
Scientific research and solid education based on facts can increase the proportion of angel-like experiences.
The war on drugs is also a war on science and education, and can only increase the devil-like experiences.

Man slim I really like this