User:Georgeeby/sandbox

Perhaps the best studied alternative treatment (with more than 88 published reports) is zinc. Ionic zinc at physiologic pH is found in zinc sulfate, zinc gluconate and zinc chloride. They are the only forms of zinc that are effective in treating herpes I and II. Treatment is topical and repeated daily for weeks to months, with the theory being that as virons come to the surface, they are killed on contact with the ionic zinc. Eventually the virons are sufficiently depleted and the infection does not return. The liklihood of ionic zinc being commerciaized for treating herpes is essentially zero, since ionic zinc is already available at nearly every pharmacy. A current Medline search is here:

Magnesium
Magnesium has an effect on biological and transduction pathways implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. Patients with depression who have a higher dietary intake of magnesium appear to experience lower depression symptoms - though the direction of causality is uncertain (less-depressed patients may have healthier diets). The scarce and incongruous scientific data indicate that oral magnesium supplementation may prevent depression, or it may be useful as a supplementary treatment, but more scientific studies are needed.

Ketamine
Current research on the antidepressant effects of ketamine infusions at subanaesthetic doses has consistently shown rapid (4 to 72 hours) responses from single doses and substantial improvement in mood in the majority of patients. However, these effects have often been found to be short-lived. Future research should focus on identifying predictors of response, examining different dosing regimens and routes of administration, and strategies to maintain the antidepressant response.