Ketamine Clinical Trial
April 20, 2023Information
Parkinson disease not only affects a person's mobility, but also many other symptoms in a person with Parkinson disease life. Depression is a very common symptom caused by Parkinson disease, and adequate treatment is imperative for patients to feel their best. Through collaborations between Drs. Sophie E. Holmes and Gerard Sanacora of Psychiatry and the Movement Disorders group, researchers are conducting the first clinical trial of ketamine as an antidepressant in PD. Due to how it works in the brain – its ability to help form new synapses – they have strong reason to believe it will effectively treat depression, and possibly other symptoms, in PD. Using brain imaging before and after treatment will help to determine how it works in the brains of people with Parkinson’s for the first time. The trial is taking place at the Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital. In this video, hear more about the trial from Drs. Holmes and Sanacora and from Brenda, who talks about her experience participating in this groundbreaking research.
- 00:00Parkinson's has a lot of
- 00:02cognitive symptoms that I have,
- 00:04and one of them being depression.
- 00:06I walked in here a depressed person,
- 00:08but I walked out of here. 100% better.
- 00:16When people think
- 00:17of Parkinson's disease,
- 00:18they think of the motor symptoms,
- 00:20the slowness of movement and tremor.
- 00:22But there are these non motor
- 00:24symptoms that are really can
- 00:26be just as debilitating and
- 00:27one of the most significant
- 00:29is depression. The typical treatments
- 00:31used to treat depression do not
- 00:34seem to be quite as effective in
- 00:36Parkinson's disease, suggesting that
- 00:37novel approaches may be necessary.
- 00:39That is part of the reason
- 00:41we're very excited to be trying this
- 00:44novel treatment program with ketamine.
- 00:46At Yale, we've been conducting
- 00:48research with ketamine since the 90s,
- 00:49and we have reason to believe
- 00:51that ketamine will be particularly
- 00:53effective in Parkinson's because
- 00:54of how it works in the brain.
- 00:56The treatment of depression
- 00:58with ketamine is one of the
- 00:59major breakthroughs we have seen
- 01:01in psychiatry in the past five decades.
- 01:03It's really changed the landscape
- 01:05how we think about the treatment.
- 01:08However, when we were applying it to
- 01:10illnesses such as Parkinson's disease,
- 01:12we know substantially less depression.
- 01:14And Parkinson's together can have a
- 01:16profound impact on quality of life.
- 01:18And so that's why we're conducting
- 01:20this trial. We think that ketamine
- 01:22will be helpful for depression,
- 01:23but potentially other symptoms of
- 01:25the disease as well. In depression,
- 01:28ketamine has been shown to have
- 01:30rapid onset of antidepressant
- 01:31benefit that can be sustained
- 01:33with repeated dosing.
- 01:34We're hoping to see similar
- 01:36effects associated with
- 01:37depression in Parkinson's disease.
- 01:39I had something traumatic
- 01:40happened and it just threw me into a
- 01:43tailspin and I couldn't get out of it.
- 01:46So I participated in the program
- 01:48in hopes that it would help me.
- 01:50It was really simple, actually.
- 01:52When I was getting the infusion for the
- 01:55the treatment, I fell asleep. If you
- 01:59or someone you know,
- 02:00a family member or a friend is
- 02:02diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
- 02:03and is struggling with depression,
- 02:05please do not hesitate to reach out.
- 02:07The timeline for this trial is
- 02:09approximately 4 to 4 1/2 weeks with
- 02:11the addition of a one month follow
- 02:13up visit and all participants are
- 02:15reimbursed for their time up to $1400.
- 02:18There also is an option of participating
- 02:20in the imaging portion of the study,
- 02:22which is also an additional
- 02:24reimbursement up to $600.
- 02:26Having the Parkinson's, I didn't
- 02:28really know what else to do as
- 02:31far as helping, and I find that
- 02:33participating in these clinical trials,
- 02:35Academy being one of them,
- 02:37I feel like I can contribute to the cure.