Forensic medicine - Matthew Perry died from ketamine effects
According to the Los Angeles coroner's office, "Friends" star Matthew Perry died from the effects of the anesthetic ketamine. Other causes of death included drowning, heart disease and the effects of a drug used to treat opioid addiction, according to a report. The death was an accident.
Perry had been undergoing ketamine therapy for depression and anxiety, media reports said, citing further information from the agency. The reports became public on Friday (local time). However, the last session before his death had been a week and a half ago.
Ketamine has been a proven anesthetic for decades. Some partygoers also use it as an illegal club drug. In addition, people with treatment-resistant depression can be treated with ketamine under certain conditions. The substance is administered either under the skin, intravenously or as a nasal spray (then as esketamine). The advantage is that it takes effect quickly. The administration means that patients are virtually disconnected from their environment for a while.
How exactly the antidepressant effect comes about has not yet been clarified, writes the University Medical Center Mainz on its website. It is likely that several processes in the brain interact, which are triggered by a temporary change in the glutamate balance. The side effects of ketamine include an increase in blood pressure and a higher heart rate.
When intoxicated with ketamine, people often experience hallucinations or dissociative states in which body and mind seem to separate and reassemble.
Long battle against alcohol and drug addiction
Perry was found dead in a hot tub in his home in Los Angeles at the end of October. He was only 54 years old. Prior to this, the actor had repeatedly spoken publicly about his battle with addiction to alcohol and drugs, among other things, and also wrote about it in his autobiography"Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing", which was published last year. For decades, addiction had dominated his life, wrote Perry, who was never married and had no children.
In the 1980s, Perry had his first television and film roles, including in the 1988 film drama "Jimmy Reardon" alongside River Phoenix. He made further film appearances in the comedy "Fools Rush In" (1997) with Salma Hayek, "A Date for Three" (1999) with Neve Campbell and "No Half Measures" (2000) with Bruce Willis and Rosanna Arquette. But his greatest success remains "Friends".
The cult TV series about six young friends in New York was produced in the USA from 1994 to 2004. Perry, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer played the leading roles. All six main actors came together again in 2021 for the special show "Friends: The Reunion". Perry's death caused shock and grief around the world, with his "Friends" co-stars speaking of an "incredible loss".
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Source: www.stern.de
