[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:01.31]this is the Health Report. [00:03.82]Ketamine is a drug that puts people [00:07.67]and animals into a deep sleep. [00:11.79]Doctors inject it into patients [00:14.80]so they can be operated on. [00:17.79]Unofficially, Ketamine is a street drug, [00:21.61]which means it is sold and used illegally. [00:26.83]However, Ketamine may prove useful [00:30.69]as a medicine to treat sickness too. [00:33.91]A new study shows the drug may help people [00:37.71]who suffer from depression. [00:40.52]Researchers in Britain studied 28 patients [00:45.18]suffering from severe depression. [00:48.44]Some of them reported feeling better, [00:51.58]like a weight had been lifted from them [00:54.84]soon after receiving injections of the drug. [00:58.25]Rupert McShane led the study. [01:02.31]He says eights of the 28 patients injected [01:07.38]got good results. [01:09.59]Doctor McShane reported [01:12.79]that three of those eights said [01:15.45]they felt better just hours [01:17.96]after getting one injection of Ketamine. [01:21.27]"Typically by about six hours, people are saying, [01:24.33]'Gosh, I am feeling like a weight is lifted from me. [01:28.13]I can think more freely.'" he said. [01:32.44]The drug's apparent effects lasted one to six months. [01:38.02]Researchers are looking for ways [01:41.22]to make these effects last longer. [01:44.98]Researchers in the United States have carried out [01:49.89]6 larger studies on Ketamine and depression. [01:54.41]They found the drug to be helpful in quickly [01:58.17]easing the effects of depression [02:00.81]that are usually difficult to treat. [02:04.23]Carlos Zarate is a researcher [02:08.00]with U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. [02:12.06]He says there are 30 different kinds [02:15.87]of antidepressant drugs on the market. [02:18.97]But he says, they do not help all the signs of depression. [02:24.93]One drug may help the extreme tiredness that can come with depression. [02:30.99]However, the same drug may not ease the feelings of deep sadness. [02:38.11]Another drug may improve a depressed person's ability to think clearly, [02:44.42]but it may not help stop thoughts of suicide. [02:49.84]So Mr Zarate says most depression patients [02:53.80]are treated with more than one drug. [02:57.35]The reason Ketamine is so effective [03:01.01]could be that it goes directly to a brain chemical linked to depression. [03:07.52]He says traditional antidepressants target that chemical only indirectly. [03:14.34]"What takes about a couple of hours with ketamine [which] [03:19.51]would take approximately six weeks [03:22.16]with our standard antidepressants," said Zarate. [03:24.23]Research is now focused on how to safely treat patients with Ketamine, [03:30.37]and how to make them feel better longer. [03:33.68]The British study of Ketamine was published [03:36.98]in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. [03:39.78]Psycho meaning dealing with the mind, [03:42.78]Pharmacology meaning the study of drugs. [03:46.90]Psychopharmacology is the study of drugs on the mind. [03:52.54]And that's the Health Report from VOA Learning English. [03:56.84]I'm Anna Matteo.

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