A new tablet form of ketamine could be a game-changer for people with severe depression. The tablet, which dissolves slowly in your system, can be taken at home. This makes it a more practical option compared to current treatments that require you to go to a clinic for injections or nasal sprays.

How the Study Went Down

The study, published in Nature Medicine, included 231 adults with severe depression that didn’t improve with regular treatments. These patients had high scores on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), which measures the severity of depression.

At first, everyone took a 120 mg ketamine tablet five times a week. After a week, patients were split into five groups. Four groups took different doses of the ketamine tablets twice a week for 12 weeks. The doses were 30 mg, 60 mg, 120 mg, and 180 mg. One group got a placebo (a dummy pill). If someone didn’t improve after the first week, they were taken out of the study.

Study Results

The 180 mg group showed the most improvement, with their MADRS scores dropping by 6.1 points. Although the 30 mg and 60 mg groups didn’t see much change, the 120 mg and 180 mg groups had better results. Women, older adults, and those who weighed more also showed more improvement.

 "The kind of results we’re seeing look as good as other ways of giving ketamine and are fascinating for two reasons. First of all, there's the practical clinical reason that this is a way of administering ketamine to treat depression that's much easier to give," said Colleen Loo, MBBS, FRANZCP, MD, clinical pharmacist, researcher, and professor at the University of South Wales Black Dog Institute. "Rather than having to come to the clinic and have an injection and have medical monitoring for two hours, once or twice a week, this is much more convenient and allows patients to have their treatment at home, making it as convenient as other
. It is also possible that some people may respond to one approach to treatment, such as the tablet, while others respond to another, such as the injection, so having more treatment approaches is very useful."

Why It's a Big Deal

The tablet form of ketamine is convenient. You don't need to go to a clinic and sit there for hours. You can take it at home, just like any other pill. This could make treating depression a lot easier and less stressful.

Also, some people might react better to the tablet than to other forms of ketamine like injections. This gives doctors more ways to help people with depression.

 "There's one school of thought that says what we call dissociative effects—where you're feeling a kind of altered reality and perception—are actually integral to the ability to improve the depression with ketamine. And that's very similar to the
model that says changing your brain circuit functioning in that profound way gives you new insights that help you to break out of your way of thinking, and that this acute kind of dissociative altered reality experience is necessary," said Loo in the news release. "But with this tablet form, you don't experience that because only a tiny amount is released into the bloodstream at a time, with ongoing slow release over days, and you don't experience the dissociation at all, and yet people are improving."

Less Side Effects

In the first week, common side effects were dizziness, headache, feeling weird, and nausea. Only 11.6% of people felt dissociation (a feeling of being disconnected from reality). During the double-blind part of the study, where doses were hidden, most side effects were mild or moderate. There were a few severe side effects, but they were not linked to the treatment.

What's Next?

If the slow-release ketamine tablet gets approved, it could become a cheaper and easier option to treat severe depression. This is especially useful for people who haven’t found relief with other treatments.

 "If [R-107] does get through all those hoops and becomes an approved treatment, it certainly makes it much more convenient, not to mention cheaper, to use ketamine to treat severe depression," said Loo in the news release.

Final Thoughts

This new slow-release ketamine tablet could make life a lot easier for those struggling with severe depression. It's convenient, can be taken at home, and might work better for some people than current options. While there are side effects, most are mild or moderate. The next step is getting this tablet approved so it can help even more people.