A 'preparatory milieu' before ketamine infusion is essential...

A milieu preparing patients for 'multiple recovery pathways' may benefit patients receiving KIT.

A recent article in the Journal of Affective Disorders highlights the distinction between the biological and experiential effects of ketamine infusion and suggests that issues like 'risk of disappointment' should the treatment fail, may play a role in non-remission.

Ketamine Infusion Therapy is nuanced. Insights such as those provided in this article can greatly assist providers in maximizing benefit from the infusions by guiding patients' expectations.

Read the article

KetaMIND opens in Hillcrest, KZN...

Dr Shaun Martin heads up the newly opened KetaMIND Clinic in Hillcrest outside Durban. He believes that the recent COVID pandemic has aggravated the exponential growth of psychiatric illness worldwide and that KIT can play a vital role in the management of responsive conditions like TRD, PTSD, and refractory anxiety.

"We've got KZN covered," says KetaMIND founder and National Medical Director Dr Alan Howard after the province's 3rd clinic opened its doors in Meyrickton Park, Hillcrest recently.

"We are delighted to welcome Shaun and his team to the KetaMIND group and wish the new clinic every success."

Dr Shaun Martin (a Wits graduate) has a postgraduate diploma in anaesthesiology and is a well known general practitioner in the region. He has also worked in the UK and Ireland.

Cape Talk invites KetaMIND's founder to discuss ketamine infusion treatment...

"Depression is killing relationships, families and individuals," KetaMIND's founder Dr Alan Howard told Catherine Rice when interviewed recently on Cape Talk Radio.

He explained how ketamine infusion frequently offers a 'safety net' to suicidal patients and works alongside traditional medications and therapy.

Listen to the interview

Spouses of cancer patients at risk for mental illness - particularly depression.

While we at KetaMIND certainly focus on mood disorders and cancer-related neuropathic pain (CNP) in patients living with cancer, it pays to note the increased incidence and risk of depression in their spouses, as shown in this Scandinavian study.

KetaMIND will be represented at the upcoming Palliative Care Conference in Cape Town and will stress the importance of surveillance in this group.

Read the JAMA article

KetaMIND clinics currently offer outpatient ketamine infusions at the following locations:

BEDFORDVIEW (GP)

CONSTANTIA (WC)

UMHLANGA (KZN)

HILTON (KZN)

HILLCREST (KZN)

PAARL (WC) (Opening soon...)

Contact a KCSA branch

In the next newsletter..

Palliative Care... ketamine infusion can be a valuable adjunct

"Palliative Care is Everyone's Business"...

This is the slogan adopted by this year's conference to be held in Cape Town this month.

KetaMIND will be represented by Dr Mike Smit (Clinical Director, KetaMIND Constantia) and a poster has been accepted for presentation.

Read more about the conference in next month's newsletter.

How did KCSA start in South Africa?

KetaMIND Clinics of South Africa (KCSA) was founded by Dr Alan Howard, a Consultant in Emergency Medicine who returned home permanently to his native South Africa from Ireland in 2019. Read more about Dr Howard and KCSA's flagship clinic in the Natal Midlands in two informative articles published in South African Psychiatry A follow-up article, Ketamine Clinics beyond the Hills can be accessed here.

Dr Howard is a member of the American Society of Ketamine Physicians (ASKP3), The Society of Sedation Practitioners of South Africa (SOSPOSA) and is an associate member of the South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP). He also serves on the KZN Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) faculty. He founded the Society of Ketamine Practitioners of South Africa (SOKePSA) in 2020.

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