MORE-KARE
MORE-KARE
Over half a million adults in the UK have a severe alcohol use disorder that requires treatment1. However, only 1 in 5 of these individuals access treatment – and current treatments show low success rates in stopping relapse in the long term2. Research suggests that ketamine may be useful in the treatment of alcohol use disorder3. Early research conducted in the 1980s found promising reductions in alcohol relapse rates following ketamine treatment4. Studies have also shown that ketamine has a fast-acting anti-depressant effect and may improve learning of new information – both of which may help prevent relapse in alcohol use disorder3,5.
MORE-KARE will build on the findings of the previous KARE trial 6. In this trial, three doses of ketamine given alongside seven sessions of therapy increased abstinence from alcohol by 16% compared with placebo (i.e. no treatment).
1 Mekonen, T., et al., Treatment rates for alcohol use disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Addiction, 2021. 116(10): p. 2617-2634.
2 Witkiewitz, K., et al., Drinking Risk Level Reductions Associated with Improvements in Physical Health and Quality of Life Among Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 2018. 42(12): p. 2453-2465.
3 Walsh, Z.M., O.; Rootman, J.,; Golsof, S.; Keeler, J.; Marsh, B.; Morgan, C. , Ketamine for the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders: Comprehensive systematic review. BJPsych Open, 2022. 8.
4 Krupitsky, E.M. and A.Y. Grinenko, Ketamine psychedelic therapy (KPT): a review of the results of ten years of research. J Psychoactive Drugs, 1997. 29(2): p. 165-83.
5 Ivan Ezquerra-Romano I., et al., Ketamine for the treatment of addiction: evidence and potential mechanisms. Neuropharmacology 2018; 142:72–82
6 Grabski, M., et al., Adjunctive ketamine with relapse prevention–based psychological therapy in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 2022. 179(2): p. 152-162.