Ketamine was discovered in the year 1964; in 1970, the United States approved it for use in hospitals as well as other medical environments as an anesthetic. Ketamine can relieve pain and produce relaxation in animals and humans.

However, because of its hallucinogenic, tranquilizing as well as dissociative effects, it’s a recreational drug that is commonly abused. The majority of people using this drug are young teens. Research reveals that 75 percent of the users are aged 12 to 15 years old. Understanding the facts about the drug can help people stop further abuse of it, detect abuse cases, and maybe prevent addiction.

It Severely Damages the Ability to Urinate

One of ketamine side effects is that it can cause bladder damage; the damage can go to the extent of the user losing the capability of controlling their bladder. Essentially, some users of the drug need adult diapers before they are seniors.

It Can Damage the Kidneys

Overdosing on this drug might cause permanent memory loss (amnesia). Since the drug affects the entire urinary system, it could cause the kidneys to malfunction: that means bleeding, pain, and the likelihood of kidney loss and failure.

Ketamine Addiction

Although it isn’t physically addictive, the drug is highly psychologically addictive, making ketamine addiction difficult to deal with; addiction to this drug can take months or even years to correct.

Users Can Overdose on the Drug

Taking too much of this drug can lead to serious consequences that are long-term like getting disconnected from reality or other Neurocognitive disorders (NCDs). Most users experience memory loss after they overdose on the drug: the memory loss is usually permanent.

The User Can Loose the Ability of Learning New Skills

Using the drug for any length of a period can cause damage to the user’s ability to learn. The drug breaks down the connections between neurons, stopping neurotransmitters from functioning properly, causing the user incapable of absorbing new information.

The Drug Can Make the User Sick

The drug can cause severe stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting. Many find themselves weak, vomiting uncontrollably, or in pain. Most people who try the drug end up experiencing some of these negative symptoms.

Technology and Anesthesia

Technology is nearly touching every aspect of our lives, even anesthesia! For instance, the Society for Technology in Anesthesia (STA), found in 1988, is an international organization of physicians, engineers, students and others with an interest in anesthesia-related technologies. They aim to improve the quality of patient care by improving technology and its applications. Some hospitals are even currently using robots to handle anesthesia, where a robot called Sedasys is acting as the anesthesiologist for healthy patients getting one of two procedures, colonoscopies and upper endoscopies. We thus seem to be moving to an era where machines would be acting as the patients anesthetists.