Kall and Response

Yesterday the New York Times science section asked, "What is vitamin K good for, and where can it be found?"

As if reading their minds, on the same day the Washington Post style section wrote, "Ketamine, sweet ketamine, answer to our glutamatergic dreams."

Let me elaborate. What is K good for?
A. Chillaxing / Seeing God (depending on dosage.)
B. Anesthetizing animals, children, and the elderly. (It's very safe because it doesn't depress respiration. It's not used more widely because of occasional side effects; see above.)
C. Here's the news: Treating depression.

A paper published in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry shows that administering sub-psychedelic amounts of ketamine can have antidepressant effects that begin within two hours and last two weeks. Wickid.

At first I didn't notice that paper when the August Archives came across my desk. Either because it was unremarkably titled "A randomized trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist in treatment-resistant major depression" instead of "Injecting fucking special K makes you trip balls AND totally puts you on cloud nine." Or because we got Oprah Magazine that day. (My job requires that I cast a wide eye on news and trends. Have you seen Oprah's new hair? OMG.)

Once I read the study I spotted a mighty confusing line though: "Adverse effects [included]... perceptual disturbances... euphoria... and increased libido." Reminded me of that old Ali G segment where he asks a narcotics agent about hash:

Ali G: And what is its effects?
Guy: You can go paranoid, which means you think people or things are coming at you. It makes your heart race. Your blood pressure can go low, so you can feel a bit woozy sometimes. It’s got a lot of medical effects on the body.
Ali G: And is there any negative effects?

Bottom line: I'm not sure I'm getting my biweekly recommended dosage of vitamin K. I can't wait for the chewable Flinstoner version to come out.

Related: The side effects of vitamin R.

Comments

[mir]

They left out dancing.

Which is perhaps where the overlap occurs. It's not that you are less depressed on special K, it's that it's hard to be depressed when you are doing the shrug to ESG.