Ketamine helped alcoholics abstain from heavy drinking for longer, with positive results still being seen six months later, a new clinical trial has shown.
The phase II trial is the first of its kind to examine whether a low dose of ketamine could help prevent people from quickly returning to heavy drinking after stopping, when combined with therapy.
The trial, Ketamine for reduction of Alcohol Relapse (KARE), showed benefits were still being seen six months later.
Led by the University of Exeter and funded by the Medical Research Council, we could now see further trials involving more people following the success of the treatment at this early stage.
The KARE trial was the first to compare ketamine with and without therapy in any mental health context.
Published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, the study included 96 people with alcohol problems who were abstinent at the time of the trial. People who had ketamine combined with psychological therapy were than 2.5 times more likely to stay completely abstinent at the end of the trial than those on placebo.
They were also found to stay completely sober for 162 of 180 days in the six month follow-up period, representing 87% abstinence.
Prior to the trial, participants were drinking every day, consuming the equivalent of 50 pints of strong beer on average per week (125 units).
Participants given ketamine and therapy drank over the recommended guidelines on just five days in total over the six month trial period on average, cutting the risk of death from alcohol-related problems from one in eight, to one in 80.
Lead author Professor Celia Morgan, of the University of Exeter, said: “Alcoholism can destroy lives, and we urgently need new ways to help people cut down. We found that controlled, low doses of ketamine combined with psychological therapy can help people stay off alcohol for longer than placebo. This is extremely encouraging, as we normally see three out of every four people returning to heavy drinking within six months of quitting alcohol, so this result represents a great improvement.”
Patients having ketamine also had lower depression after three months, and better liver function than those on placebo, regardless of whether it was combined with therapy or not.
