Researchers at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, US, will be trialling ketamine – a recreational drug previously used to medicate people with depression – as a treatment for Parkinson’s.
The research – led by Dr Scott Sherman – is being supported with a three-year grant of $750,000 from the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission.
The initial clinical trial will test the effect of ketamine for treating dyskinesia in 10 patients. In addition, the researchers will carry out a separate rodent study to examine how the drug affects the brain.
Dr Scott Sherman, a neurologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, said: “Ketamine has been long overlooked. Now it could prove very useful for Parkinson’s patients.”