Heavy use of the veterinary anesthetic turned club drug could have serious consequences. 

People who use the club drug Special K or Vitamin K (ketamine) might be at higher risk for serious bladder problems in the future. In most cases, the symptoms go away after the drug is stopped, but not always.

Ketamine also leads to problems with thinking, memory, and concentration.

Ketamine, which is used as an anesthetic in veterinary medicine, gives its users hallucinations, an “out of body” feeling, and feelings of euphoria or a dream-like state. It is swallowed, injected, or snorted. Ketamine also leads to problems with thinking, memory, and concentration.

A new study followed over 1,200 people who had used ketamine in the last year. Of the users, 17 percent were addicted to it, and 26 percent of users had experienced urinary problems, including pain in the lower abdomen, burning or stinging during urination, bloody urine, and incontinence (urine leakage).

The severity of urinary symptoms was connected to how often and the size of the dose of ketamine the participants used.

Half the participants reported that their symptoms improved after they stopped using the drug. a small minority (4%) said they continued to have symptoms after they ceased use.

Ketamine is known to cause irritation and inflammation of the mucous membranes, as well as thickening of the bladder wall and kidney problems. but the exact mechanisms by which ketamine actually causes these changes in the urinary tract are not well understood.

The authors urge doctors and the public to be aware of the serious problems that can occur with prolonged ketamine use, in particular to “avoid progression to severe and irreversible urological pathologies.” In other words, the damage that is occurring to users’ urinary tracts could be permanent after a certain amount of use. if you or a loved one is using ketamine (or any other drug), getting help to stop it as early as possible is critical. For help with drug abuse, please visit the SAMHSA.gov website.

The study was carried out by a team at the Bristol Urological Institute in Bristol, UK, and published in the journal BJU International.

This article originally appeared on TheDoctorWillSeeYouNow.com, an Atlantic partner site.

Page last updated at 11-10-10 11:50 CST

Q Fever has Same Symptoms As the Flu

Reported by ; David Earl Edited by ; Ashley Colley

COLUMBIA – A high fever, chills, sore throat, sweats. Those sound like symptoms of the flu, right? one researcher at the University of Missouri wants you to think twice about whether or not you’re actually suffering from the flu this winter season.  Guoquan Zhang, an assistant professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine, is working on a vaccine for Q fever.   while there’s never been a documented outbreak in the United States, the recent rash of the disease in the Netherlands has prompted the CDC to issue travel advisory to Americans planning on visiting the country. Infection can only be confirmed by a blood test, and doctors use the anti-biotic doxycycline to treat the disease effectively–though without treatment, the infection usually takes several months to run its course. It’s fatal in only about 1 to 2 percent of cases.   of particular concern to Missouri is the ability of Q fever to take hold in livestock, and then tranfer to humans. the Netherlands ordered a slaughter of 35,000 milk goats during the epidemic in 2009.   unlike the flu, there’s no vaccine available in the United States approved by the FDA. the vaccine available around the world causes a severe reaction if the Q fever pathogen is already present.   Zhang’s research focuses on creating a vaccine that doesn’t cause a skin reaction. He’s using the University of Missouri’s Regional Biocontainment Lab to conduct part of his research.  the secure facility in Columbia houses a team of pathogen-fighting researchers. the CDC lists Q fever as a potential biological weapon.     Hit Count: 346

By ANIKA CLARK August 18, 2010 12:00 AM

Stories of eastern equine encephalitis striking horses and humans aren’t uncommon in Southeastern Massachusetts. but the viral wrath that left a Rhode Island man still in critical condition Tuesday isn’t limited to those with heels and hooves.

“Anything that’s not native to the East Coast of the United States probably would be sensitive to it,” said Wayne Andrews, superintendent for the Bristol County Mosquito Control Project. “It’s probably been a major player in the (natural) selection process.”

In 2009, EEE wiped out 125 Maine pheasants, according to an associated Press article from the time, and the National Wildlife Health Center reported the virus killing glossy ibis birds, pigeons, whooping cranes and white Peking ducklings. EEE has also killed emus, sporadically been found in sheep and, in 2006, hit a harbor seal off the shores of New Bedford. Andrews recalls Hungarian partridges falling victim to EEE in Southeastern Massachusetts and, although native birds don’t typically get ill from the virus, “several years ago a flock of quail imported from Asia died due to EEE,” State Public Health Veterinarian Catherine M. Brown said in an e-mail.

Meanwhile, in camelids, such as llamas and alpacas, it’s considered highly fatal, according to Daniela Bedenice of Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in North Grafton.

Eastern equine encephalitis among East Coast camelids was first formally identified in 2005, said Bedenice, who is an assistant professor in the veterinary school’s department of clinical sciences.

“That said, we have to be a little bit careful in terms of saying that the disease wasn’t present,” she said. “I think it was more a matter of not having looked for it.”

Part of the challenge in determining EEE’s animal footprint is that, while its symptoms are often similar to those in humans and horses, the same symptoms can result from many other illnesses.

In llamas and alpacas, “it’s quite a sudden onset of, often fever, and neurological signs … consistent with what we call ‘central disease’ or ‘brain disease,’” Bedenice said. “The first thing the owner usually notices is some degree or depression or dullness in the face of a fever and incoordination.”

However, incoordination can be caused by meningeal worm, herpes, polioencephalomalacia and West Nile virus, she said, adding that the latter two can also leave animals dull and depressed and West Nile and a listeria infection can give victims a fever.

As for man’s best friend, Brown wrote, “Only a few dogs have ever been reported with the disease, so they do not appear to be very susceptible, and those that have have been young with immature immune systems.”

Robert Breen II, a veterinarian and owner of Woodland Animal Clinic in East Freetown, said he’s never treated a known, veterinary EEE case.

“We do see pets with nervous system diseases, yes, and once in awhile it crosses my mind. … more likely, though, if you took it to the max for diagnostics, you might come up with a bacterial meningitis or a neoplastic condition, meaning cancer of some sort,” he said. “We never diagnose it, and (there) would be no good way to diagnose it in a dog … or a cat.”

Neurological symptoms in dogs can be caused by everything from a form of rabies and meningitis to ingesting medicines, mushrooms or coins, according to Rachel Francis, a veterinarian and owner of the Marion Animal Hospital.

Still, she said EEE could be more common in dogs than people realize.

Francis pointed to a study conducted in Georgia from 1993 to 2005 that found more than 10 EEE-infected dogs among more than 100 that had died after showing neurologic symptoms. in order to determine that, Francis said, researchers had to culture the virus from the dogs’ brains in a process she called extremely time-consuming.

“Dogs are a hundred times more likely to get a tick than a human,” she said, “so I would say that because they’re outside more, they’re probably more likely to get a mosquito than a person, too.”

But people and animals can be exposed to the EEE virus and never develop symptoms.

“My theory is that any mammal that is exposed to the virus at least can develop a response to it, in terms of developing antibody levels,” Bedenice said. There’s “a possibility that certain species are more susceptible to disease as a consequence (of) exposure.”

So why might a person suffer a fatal bout of EEE whereas a dog or cat might not?

“Probably for the same reason why human beings don’t catch heartworm disease,” Breen said. “Your immune system overpowers it, and probably the dog and cat immune system overpowers these viruses.”

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