Citation

Maloney WJ (2018) The Health Effects of the Abuse of Ketamine. Int J Depress Anxiety 1:006. doi.org/10.23937/ijda-2017/1710006

Copyright

© 2018 Maloney WJ. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

SHORT COMMENTARY | OPEN ACCESSDOI: 10.23937/ijda-2017/1710006

The Health Effects of the Abuse of Ketamine

William J Maloney*

Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Cariology and Comprehensive Care, New York Univeristy College of Dentistry, USA

Abstract

Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic which is used in powdered or liquid form. A number of individuals have abused this drug or have been instrumental in others using this drug as a "date-rape" drug. Abuse of ketamine can result in a number of systemic manifestations including gastrointestinal issues, depression, and respiratory problems and amnesia. Serious debilitating urinary tract symptoms are also seen frequently in those individuals who abuse ketamine.