Thanks for the update. Here in Aus Youth suicide is the first or second
killer of youth. So I wonder about all this ecstasy ... . However, there may
be a 'second wave' of attrition, in about 20 years maybe, all those who
thought no harm was done.
John H.
<et_al at my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:sg0dst0arbhkagsem6793tf9i6isf3uba1 at 4ax.com...
> On Fri, 12 Oct 2001 00:09:37 +1000, "John H." <John at faraway.com.au>
> wrote:
>> >MDMA has been demonstrated to cause extensive damage to serotonin cells.
One
> >researcher has claimed that 100 uses of the drug is sufficient to cause
> >damage
>> A note of caution here, MDMA/Ecstasy can do damage even from the first
> dose. See for example:
>> Colado MI, Granados R, O'Shea E, et al. (1999)
> "The acute effect in rats of 3,4-methylenedioxyethamphetamine (MDEA,
> "eve") on body temperature and long term degeneration of 5-HT neurones
> in brain: a comparison with MDMA ("ecstasy")."
> Pharmacol Toxicol, vol 84(6):261-6
>> Certainly, psych disorders may be triggered by just one tablet.
>> >and increasing amounts of research point towards PERMANENTLY depleted
> >serotonin resulting in mood and cognitive functions, will will probably
only
> >worsen with age. (Caveat: I have one study on rats that showed
substantial
> >serotonin recovery one year after loss from MDMA. There may be hope yet
for
> >
> >all those who thought this was another safe drug but I doubt it.)
>> AFAIK, the longest study is:
>> Hatzidimitriou G, McCann UD, Ricaurte GA. (1999)
> "Altered serotonin innervation patterns in the forebrain of monkeys
> treated with (+/-)3,4-methylenedioxy- methamphetamine seven years
> previously: factors influencing abnormal recovery."
> J Neurosci , vol 19(12):p 5096-10
>> which has shown that even after 7 years there is still significant
> damage.
>> >Not sure
> >of the process that gives rise to this, can only speculate that as
serotonin
> >metabolism generates super anions, and this together with nitric oxide,
> >released under some types of glutamate receptor activation(assuming high
> >levels of glu in MDMA and LSD), can give rise to peroxynitrate , which
> >nitrates tyrosine H and and generally does a lot of damage to cells.
> >
> Yes, there seem to be several factors at play, energy depletion within
> the cell can interfere with it's ability to regulate ion balance, and
> the ability to repair free radical/oxidation injury etc. And its not
> just 5-HT that gets hypersecreted, but dopamine too.
> >
> >After MDMA a person will feel 'washed out' for a few days, no matter how
> >much they sleep. I suspect the serotonin is not waiting to be reabsorbed
> >into vesicles, but has been lost forever, metabolised and gone. If it
were
> >just a matter of transport back to vesicles, then a day should be ample.
>> 5-HT hypersecretion also seems to inhibit 5-HT synthesis from
> L-Tryptophan.
>> >MDMA probably
> >causes a low level but nonetheless deleterious inflammatory reaction. The
> >subsequent release of cytokines like il1 and tnf will induce fatigue
(hence
> >why you feel tired when you get the flu and other viruses) and have been
> >demonstrated to inhibit cerebral metabolism; not to mention causing cell
> >death.
>> And there is now much work showing that cytokines may be involved in the
> triggering of some psych disorderes, particularly anxiety and
> depression.
>>> Ian
>