Lowan Stewart

Dr. Stewart is a specialist Emergency Physician, practicing since 2003 in the US and in Norway. He was a cofounder of Insight Ketamine in 2016, Axon Clinic in 2018, and the first public ketamine treatment unit in Scandinavia at Sykehuset Østfold in 2020. He is a medical consultant for PsykForsk, working on clinical trials with psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine and an advisor to the public ketamine units. He was the Regional Director for Awakn, and is currently the medical Director of Axon Clinics. He is a founding member of the national research group Norwegian Rapid-Acting Antidepressant Network (NORAAD), the psychedelic research group at the University of Oslo and the Eating Disorder Lab at Oslo Nye Høyskole. Dr. Stewart is the co-founder of the Norwegian Association for Psychedelic Science, an Expert Faculty Member of the American Society of Ketamine Physicians and serves as associate editor for the Journal of Psychedelic Studies.

Rewiring recovery - Ketamine for the treatment of eating disorders

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses, sometimes even life-threatening, with profound physiological, psychological, and social consequences. They affect individuals across all ages, genders, and sociocultural backgrounds, but most commonly emerge during adolescence and early adulthood, disproportionately affecting females.

Despite the availability of evidence-based treatments, outcomes remain poor for many. Recent data show that approximately 50% of patients do not achieve recovery, even with treatment. Among those who do recover, one in four relapses, and one in five develops a chronic course of illness. These figures underscore the need to explore innovative treatment approaches for this population.

Psychedelic treatments have recently gained attention as a promising avenue. Emerging evidence suggests that ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic, is safe for individuals with eating disorders and comorbid depression. Preliminary findings also indicate potential benefits in reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and core eating disorder psychopathology.

In this presentation, Dr. Stewart and Prof. Dahlgren will review the current evidence on ketamine treatment for eating disorders and offer insights into why ketamine may be particularly well-suited for this patient group. They will also present preliminary findings from a clinical initiative involving ketamine-assisted therapy for patients with eating disorders in Norway.