"Your Bladder Will Be Destroyed": Experts Warn as Surge in Young People Experiencing Nocturia

Increase in Bladder and Urinary Tract Damage Cases Due to Ketamine Abuse
Warning for Young Adults... Classified as a Class B Drug

There has been a warning that hospitalizations for urological conditions such as cystitis are surging among young people in England and Wales. Experts point out that this phenomenon is directly linked to the recent sharp increase in ketamine abuse.

According to the nonprofit academic media outlet 'The Conversation' on January 17 (local time), an article by Dr. Heba Ghazal, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy and pharmacist at Kingston University in the UK, was published. In the article, Dr. Ghazal warned, "The health damage caused by the ketamine craze has reached a critical stage."

According to data from the UK Office for National Statistics, domestic ketamine use has increased by more than 250% since 2015, making it the drug with the largest increase among single-use drugs during the same period. The UK classified ketamine as a Class B drug in 2014, but due to its low price and easy accessibility, the problem of abuse has not subsided.

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In particular, long-term abuse of ketamine is known to cause irreversible damage to the bladder and urinary tract. Symptoms such as frequent urination, nocturia, urgency, urinary incontinence, hematuria, inflammation, and pain may occur, making daily life difficult, and in some cases, this leads to permanent damage.

A significant portion of the increase in hospitalized patients has been among teenagers in their late teens and young adults in their early twenties. This coincides with the period of increased ketamine use. According to the statistics office, the number of reported cases involving children related to ketamine increased from 512 cases (5% of all drug-related reports) in 2021-2022 to 1,465 cases (9%) in 2025, surpassing the number of reports related to ecstasy for the first time since data collection began.

Ketamine was approved as a human anesthetic in 1970, but later became known as a "party drug" after being introduced into club and party culture. It induces dissociation, giving users a sense of being separated from their surroundings, and its hallucinogenic, stimulant, and analgesic effects last for one to two hours. It is also known for rapidly developing tolerance, causing users to seek higher doses.

Alison Downey, a urology specialist in South Yorkshire, said in an interview with The Guardian, "The number of hospitalizations related to ketamine has surged, pushing hospital capacity to its limits," adding, "Because this is an addiction issue rather than a urological disease, it cannot be solved by the response of a single department within the healthcare system."