Ecstasy linked to serious brain damage

[Erin]

Background: Ecstasy, or "e" or "x," is a psychotropic drug that has become more and more popular among young people in recent years. It is associated with so-called raves (nightlong parties with loud music and dancing).

Read more about it here:

http://www.theantidrug.com/drug_info/drugs_ecstasy.html



Hi guys, I'm posting this here because I know that ecstasy use is a day-to-day reality of many teenagers.

This article comes from:

http://www.canada.com/health/story.h...F-4681B844BD84



Ecstasy linked to serious brain damage

Norma Greenaway
Ottawa Citizen


Friday, September 27, 2002


If you party hearty with ecstasy, be prepared to pay a price with your health -- even if it's only a one-night blowout.

A new medical study says popping the popular party drug tablets two, three or more times within hours of each other may cause more brain damage than previously thought.

The study warns that users of the illegal drug could be putting themselves at "serious" risk of developing problems, either as young adults or later in life, that look like the tremors, balance problems and slowness of motion associated with Parkinson's disease.

The study, published in the latest edition of Science magazine, was conducted by a group of researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md.

The study puts to rest any notion party-goers might have they can safely consume multiple doses of ecstasy, also known as MDMA, during one night, says one of its authors.

Dr. George Ricaurte said it shows the drug, when administered in multiple doses to squirrel monkeys and baboons, destroys nerve endings of the dopamine nerve cells in the brain.

Sufficient depletion of those cells leads to motor abnormalities.

"These findings should be a red flag or a yellow flag of caution to anyone who is contemplating using MDMA, or perhaps is currently using MDMA," said Ricaurte, a neurologist at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Centre.

"Certainly from a health standpoint, there is a clear and serious risk that the drug poses to human health."

Ricaurte said previous studies have shown that levels of dopamine cells decline with advancing age.

The new data suggests that repeated ecstasy use on top of age-related attrition heightens the risk of developing what is known as parkinsonism, a condition that looks like Parkinson's disease, but isn't.

"The concern is that by damaging dopamine nerve cells in the brain, ecstasy use may be in a sense eating into a normal reserve of dopamine," he said.

Ecstasy, known officially as methylenedioxymethamphetamine, is a synthetic chemical with stimulant and hallucinogenic properties. It has become a drug of choice for raves, or all-night music and dance parties.

Among other things, it has been linked to severe dehydration and life-threatening heatstroke among users. There have been about two dozen deaths in Canada since 1998 linked to ecstasy use, including one in Red Deer last month. A weekend ecstasy binge for a group of Red Deer friends ended with the overdose death of one man and hospitalization of two others.

Nevertheless, Canadian law enforcement agencies report trafficking and ecstasy use has risen dramatically in recent years with the popularity of the rave movement.

The Johns Hopkins team investigated the effects on animals of an ecstasy regime such as the increasingly popular one used by humans where they consume multiple doses during one night of partying.

Earlier studies in animals suggested ecstasy killed only certain nerve cells in the brain called serotoninergic neurons. Those cells are implicated in regulating mood, appetite, sleep and other behaviour. By administering multiple doses to the squirrel monkey and baboons, Ricaurte's team showed the drug also caused the death of depominergic neurons, which help control movements and the ability to feel pleasure and pain.

© Copyright 2002 Calgary Herald

[raghuveer_v]

Oh, I never heard of such a drug. May be it's common to only some countries.

And, I misinterpreted the title of the topic ... "If somebody is feeling ecstatic, it might be a symptom of brain-damage"

Anyway, hope this article serves its purpose.

[Erin]

I've updated some of the info above.

[FrutZle]

The Netherlands is, or at least was when I last heard about it, the number one producer of XTC (extacy), as well as the country from which most of those pills in the USA come from. They're said to be "better" than those made in other countries, meaning nothing more than that they have a stronger effect but cause as much, if not more damage.

There used to be a special bus at those large parties for some time, where people who bought XTC could have the pills tested. One thing I remember they said on TV was that they found several pills with rat poison in them. Imagine taking one or two of those pills...

Oh, and XTC in combination with alcohol can be deadly. Several people have fainted, had strokes, and some have been in coma from that.

The effect of XTC is that it gives you a boost of energy, making is easier to keep dancing all night long. The side effect is that your body temperature rises so you burn a lot of energy and tend to dry out, meaning you need to drink a lot (that's where the alcohol comes in). That's why you often see people who attend those kinds of parties with candy, such as lollipops.