I looked up Ketamine, to find out exactly what it was, and it was used as an analgesic and an anasthetic in the 60s. Later, it was abused as a psychadelic drug (similar to LSD), thus changing its availability in the US. It's almost exclusively used on animals for the same reasons it was used on humans.
Ketamine may be used in small doses (0.1–0.5 mg/kg/h) as an analgesic, particularly for the treatment of pain associated with movement and neuropathic pain. It has the added benefit of counter-acting spinal sensitization or wind-up phenomena experienced with chronic pain.
In animal models of neuropathic pain (Bennett & Xie, Pain 33, 87-107 (1988); Seltzer et al., Pain 43, 205-18 (1990); Kim & Chung, Pain 50, 355-63 (1992); Malmberg & Basbaum, Pain 76, 215-22 (1998); Sung et al., Neurosci Lett 246, 117-9 (1998) ; Lee et al., Neuroreport 11, 657-61 (2000); Decosterd & Woolf, Pain 87, 149-58 (2000); Vadakkan et al., J Pain 6, 747-56 (2005), compounds that only block serotonin reuptake do not improve neuropathic pain. Similarly, compounds that only block norepinephrine reuptake also do not improve neuropathic pain. Compounds such as dulexetine, venlafaxine, and milnacipran that block both serotonin reuptake and norepinephrine reuptake do improve neuropathic pain. Antidepressants usually reduce neuropathic pain more quickly and with smaller doses than they relieve depression. Antidepressants therefore seem to work differently on neuropathic pain than on depression, perhaps by activating descending norepinephrinergic and serotonergic pathways in the spinal cord that block pain signals from ascending to the brain.
Which must be the studies "Cuddy" mentioned when she told House what she'd done. The whole Ketamine/neuropathic pain deal.
On the content of the episode, I rather feel the same with your comments. On all points. The best aspect was a look into House's head, how he processes, how he sees himself, how he sees the world around him. He's truly afraid of not being the best in the room, afraid of failure. I find myself relating to the character a whole lot more because of the finale. I recognize a lot of my own fears in him. (I'm nowhere near as self-centered, tho.)
no subject
Ketamine may be used in small doses (0.1–0.5 mg/kg/h) as an analgesic, particularly for the treatment of pain associated with movement and neuropathic pain. It has the added benefit of counter-acting spinal sensitization or wind-up phenomena experienced with chronic pain.
In animal models of neuropathic pain (Bennett & Xie, Pain 33, 87-107 (1988); Seltzer et al., Pain 43, 205-18 (1990); Kim & Chung, Pain 50, 355-63 (1992); Malmberg & Basbaum, Pain 76, 215-22 (1998); Sung et al., Neurosci Lett 246, 117-9 (1998) ; Lee et al., Neuroreport 11, 657-61 (2000); Decosterd & Woolf, Pain 87, 149-58 (2000); Vadakkan et al., J Pain 6, 747-56 (2005), compounds that only block serotonin reuptake do not improve neuropathic pain. Similarly, compounds that only block norepinephrine reuptake also do not improve neuropathic pain. Compounds such as dulexetine, venlafaxine, and milnacipran that block both serotonin reuptake and norepinephrine reuptake do improve neuropathic pain. Antidepressants usually reduce neuropathic pain more quickly and with smaller doses than they relieve depression. Antidepressants therefore seem to work differently on neuropathic pain than on depression, perhaps by activating descending norepinephrinergic and serotonergic pathways in the spinal cord that block pain signals from ascending to the brain.
Which must be the studies "Cuddy" mentioned when she told House what she'd done. The whole Ketamine/neuropathic pain deal.
On the content of the episode, I rather feel the same with your comments. On all points. The best aspect was a look into House's head, how he processes, how he sees himself, how he sees the world around him. He's truly afraid of not being the best in the room, afraid of failure. I find myself relating to the character a whole lot more because of the finale. I recognize a lot of my own fears in him. (I'm nowhere near as self-centered, tho.)