A study in New York has shown that regular use of the club drug ketamine alters the functioning of urinary bladder. The symptoms which often occur are urgency and pelvic pain. The drug is sometimes commonly known as Special K. Dr. Siu-king Mak from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and colleagues said that the symptoms might persist for a period of a year or more even after a person stops taking the drug. Dr. Mak and colleagues have published their findings in Journal of Urology in the August issue. The journal is now available online. In an e-mail sent to Reuters Dr. Mak also said that it is likely that the functional changes which occurred might get reverted in a year or more after the abstinence from ketamine.
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However, there is no guarantee for the same happening. Ketamine, which is a very strong anesthetic, is being abused in many countries. It is being repeatedly used by people in cases of mental problems such as hallucinations and impaired memory. The drug causes a rise in blood pressure. In the report Dr. Mak has reported that in the past three years at least five cases have been reported where there were symptoms of lower urinary tract dysfunctions. All these cases were associated with improper use of the drug ketamine. The symptoms that were reported included problems like painful urination, debilitating urinary frequency, urgency, urge incontinence and blood in the urine. Often the symptoms were associated with inflammation and abnormal growth of blood vessel in the bladder area.
In the study 66 individuals were studied. They were in the age group 13 and 25. Approximately 75% of them were male. The function of lower urinary tract was evaluated using a questionnaire called “Pelvic Pain, Urgency and Frequency (PUF) Questionnaire”. Sonograms and measurement of urinary flow were also used. The users who were actively consuming ketamine were found to take in about 12.5gm of ketamine per week on an average. The research team found that the use of ketamine three or more times a week showed measurable symptoms of dysfunction of lower unrinary tract. Dr. Mak said that this report was first of its kind, which showed the relation between the use of ketamine and dysfunction of urinary tract. When the scores of the questionnaire were compared it was found that for subjects who used ketamine for two years or more the scores were worse than those who used it for shorter durations.
