New hope! Ketamine Clinics of South Africa (KCSA) now open in La Lucia Ridge
The suicide rate in South Africa, already one of the highest in the world, has increased alarmingly since lockdowns began almost a year ago. Depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders are burgeoning during these uncertain times.
When Dr Alan Howard, a Consultant in Emergency Medicine in the Northwest of Ireland for 12-years, returned home to South Africa at the end of 2019 to launch Ketamine Clinics of South Africa (KCSA), little did he know that COVID would strike a few short months later and the need for an effective treatment for resistant depression, suicidality and anxiety would grow like never before.
Ketamine, the party drug known on the street as ‘Special K’, is a dissociative anaesthetic that has been around since the 1960’s and is on the WHO’s list of essential medicines. It was not until 2006 that ketamine’s remarkable ability to improve mood and reverse suicidal ideation in up to 80% of patients, even after a single infusion, was realized. Numerous studies and clinical trials have been undertaken since.
The greatest sustained benefit for patients with mood disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, anxiety, post-partum depression and OCD, is realized after a series of six forty-minute outpatient infusions over a 2–3-week period. Patients are encouraged to book maintenance infusions thereafter (usually one infusion every 4-6-weeks) to maintain remission.
KCSA’s flagship outpatient clinic opened its doors in December 2019 at Hilton Life Hospital in the KZN midlands, and over 1200-infusions have been administered to date. Such was the demand from other regions around the country that KCSA opened a further large infusion clinic in Bedfordview Gauteng in October last year, and now turns its focus towards the KZN North Coast and the Western Cape.
Dr Howard explains that, although ketamine has an excellent safety profile and few side effects, it remains an anaesthetic agent and, as such, must be given in an appropriate clinical environment by medical professionals familiar with its use. KCSA employs such doctors and anaesthetists at its clinics and they are assisted by a team of ICU-trained nurses. Patients are treated in private cubicles and are monitored throughout.
Almost all patients treated at KCSA clinics are referred by psychiatrists and GP’s who recognize ketamine’s remarkable potential to offer new hope to patients trapped in a cycle of dark despair. The clinic can be contacted off the website, where there is a wealth of additional information and testimonials.
Ketamine works by increasing levels of the neurotransmitter glutamate in the brain, which has a more immediate effect than more traditional antidepressant. Studies show that areas of the brain damaged by mood disorders can recover when serial ketamine is administered through a process called synaptogenesis and dendritic sprouting (new nerve fibres and junctions). Ketamine is also used to treat certain types of chronic neuropathic pain.
“I’ve never been more excited about anything I’ve done during 30-years practicing medicine,” says Dr Howard. “The results have been extremely gratifying and heartwarming”.
Ketamine infusion offers New Hope to those trapped in a cycle of depression and anxiety
Outpatient infusion therapy for depression, suicidality, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, post-partum depression, chronic neuropathic pain.
The following are all quotes from our patients
‘I have not heard my daughter laugh for six-months!’ (Mother of a 14-year-old suicidal patient)
‘The change in her was remarkable! She was cheerful and engaging.’ (Sister of a 72-year-old patient)
‘Conventional antidepressants have been plasters. Ketamine is surgery.’
‘I was a derelict house. Ketamine began renovations. Now I feel like a mansion.’
‘I felt serene and very safe. I felt grounded and validated.’
‘I saw my problems in compartments. They became insignificant. I had absolute clarity.’
‘I now want to have a successful life rather than just ending it.’
‘I came home to see the old Dave. He was cheerful, bright and bushytailed.’(Wife of KCSA patient)
‘Deeply stirring, healing and beautiful beyond words.’
‘Over two weeks I felt a growing strength, energy, balance, clarity of thought and purpose.’
‘I cannot compare this treatment to any other. Close to a miracle!’
‘Profound experiences of being able to pray, reflect and speak to God. I have never felt anything like this.’
‘My husband is run off his feet! I now want to go shopping, go to the park and not just stay in my room.’
‘I no longer have to pretend to feel happy.’
Umhlanga: 5 Pencarrow Crescent, La Lucia Ridge, Umhlanga Tel: 087 813 7778
Hilton KZN: Suite 3, Level 1 Hilton Health Medical Centre, 3 Monzali Drive, 3245 Hilton, KZN Tel: 087 702 854
Bedfordview, Gauteng: Ground Floor, Wellness on Van Buuren, 50 Van Buuren Road, 2007 Bedfordview, Gauteng Tel: 087 265 7479
