MDMA

[V. Barbarino]

Study: Amphetamines may slow Parkinson's

Thursday, August 4, 2005; Posted: 12:27 p.m. EDT (16:27 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Amphetamines, including the party drug Ecstasy, have reversed the effects of Parkinson's disease in mice, researchers said on Wednesday.

Their finding does not suggest the use of now-illegal drugs to treat the incurable brain disease, but may offer a way forward in helping patients, they said.

The team at Duke University in North Carolina treated mice that were genetically modified to suffer from Parkinson's-like symptoms with more than 60 types of amphetamines.

Fourteen of the drugs helped reverse the symptoms of the mice, including the tremors and rigidity that mark the disease -- raising the possibility of exploring related treatments for humans.

"We hope to find new drugs that are close chemically, but safe," Marc Caron, who led the research, said in a telephone interview.

Parkinson's disease is caused by the death of brain cells that control physical movement and produce the essential chemical dopamine.

According to the American Parkinson's Disease Association, there are about 1.5 million Americans with the disease.

The new research shows that dopamine replacement, so far the most common, but only partly effective Parkinson's treatment, may not be the only viable option, Caron said.

Amphetamine-like drugs, not unlike those now given to children with attention deficit disorder, could eventually be used for Parkinson's, he said.

"We give these drugs in low doses to children, so it's not so terrible to say some day we should give similar drugs to Parkinson's patients," Caron said.

The effects of another stimulant, coffee, have been cited in the past as easing Parkinson's symptoms by keeping dopamine levels high.

But Caron said coffee is only effective in early stages of the disease, when some dopamine is still present. His new study reflects treatment during advanced stages, when there is no longer any dopamine present.

MDMA, also known as Ecstasy, proved the most effective of the amphetamines used at counteracting Parkinson's symptoms in the mice, said Raul Gainetdinov, who also worked on the study. He said he is not sure exactly why.

"We do not advocate self-medication with Ecstasy," Gainetdinov added in a telephone interview. He said that apart from being illegal and controversial, the drug can be more damaging to human nerve tissue than it is to mice.

Caron and Gainetdinov's findings were published in the August edition of Public Library of Science Biology.

[Guest DaGoose]

I can see it now..........the mice running around dancing e'ing their faces off and blowing vicks inhalers at each others faces. All holding cute little mini water bottles.

[Guest tiltmiami]

use me in a lab please ;D

[Bling]

use me in a lab please ;D

welll since u said it so nicely..

gentleman take him away...

[Guest tres-b]

use me in a lab please ;D

Guess you missed this quote:

"We do not advocate self-medication with Ecstasy," Gainetdinov added in a telephone interview. He said that apart from being illegal and controversial, the drug can be more damaging to human nerve tissue than it is to mice.

[Guest JMT]

a common belief by scientists a few years back was that MDMA could actually cause parkinson's in humans.

[Guest slamminshaun]

a common belief by scientists a few years back was that MDMA could actually cause parkinson's in humans.

Good point. Scientists change their mind about things all the time.

[Guest cutchemist]

sasha- the chemist who invented it for marrige counceling..he worked for dupont for many years and made so much money for them that he has his own personal laboratory with paid staff and raw materials just to work on his idea's to this day. -read it in a playboy article of all places

I'M NOT SURE IF "EROWID" IS WORK SAFE

http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/shulgin_alexander/shulgin_alexander.shtml

What is your opinion on neurotoxicity?

Sasha: You mean the changes that may occur from repeated drug use? I'm not personally very fond of repeated drug use; my role is the discovery of new things, not confirmation of old things, so I don't have that as a personal worry. If you take a drug with sufficient frequency, you will become unresponsive to that drug, possibly through changes of neurochemistry. Changes occur; from an optimistic point of view you call them growth, from a pessimistic point of view you call them damage, but it is change, and to make it reversible you must stop the drug. But the "holes in the brain " idea is a shameful excess, it comes from people who are willing to mis-use medical information to mislead the public about the effects of illegal drugs.

[Guest cutchemist]

Found the playboy article

http://www.bruceeisner.com/new_culture/2004/03/shulgin_article.html

Well after midnight on a recent evening, he gets into his Geo and drives down the mountain roads, past the Berkeley campus and over the bridge and the dark bay to a hospital near San Francisco. He is not thinking about ecstasy or any of the other drugs that have passed through his life and his body. As the world still grapples with his previous inventions, he forges forward. In the predawn hours, when the sky is lightening to pink and the hospital's halls echo with his footsteps, Shulgin slips into a high- tech lab-he is friends, of course, with the doctor in charge. As always, he works by himself, surrounded by his potions and powders. And sometimes, when he's lost in the bliss of creation, he'll feel the atoms like living beings. Sure, it's just carbon, hydrogen, matter and electricity, [glow=red,2,300]but it's everything-everything- to a chemist alone in a laboratory at five A.M. willing to be awed.[/glow]

[Guest tres-b]

I never bought into the "holes in the brain" stuff. However, I do believe that anything to excess is bad, especially when you are using an substance that is man made(MDMA, meth, LSD, etc.)

[Guest slamminshaun]

Eat Big Macs everyday and it will also cause you problems.

[Guest mursa]

tres-b , Slammin Shaun

..i can't stand your political views .......BUT i def agree with you guys on ur last replys .

Moderate and never forget the TRUE things in life (family) and you'll be Fine . 8)

[Guest cutchemist]

[Guest slamminshaun]

tres-b , Slammin Shaun

..i can't stand your political views .......BUT i def agree with you guys on ur last replys .

Drinks on the House!!

[Guest web_norah]

and if you want further detail - pick up a Hunter Thompson book, you'll get a good picture of what this stuff does to you.

[Guest tres-b]

tres-b , Slammin Shaun

..i can't stand your political views .......BUT i def agree with you guys on ur last replys .

Moderate and never forget the TRUE things in life (family) and you'll be Fine . 8)

8)

[Guest tres-b]

Eat Big Macs everyday and it will also cause you problems.

Super Size Me

[Guest pontifex]

and if you want further detail - pick up a Hunter Thompson book, you'll get a good picture of what this stuff does to you.

I read some of his books, I don't think he took a lot of ecstacy, mostly 'high powered' psychodelics like acid, mescaline, etc. Good books though. R.I.P

[Guest kcariaga]

Eat Big Macs everyday and it will also cause you problems.

Agreed-moderation is the key!

[all4tribal1414779019]

Eat Big Macs everyday and it will also cause you problems.

actually a double whopper with cheese is the worst in all fast food hamburgers w/ 1200 calories, 60g of fat, 300g of carbs...add large fries and a soda, ur looking at 2000 calories, over 800g of fat...

[Guest DaGoose]

Rent the movie "Super Size me" its crazy. The guy who made the movie (documentary) went on a McDonalds only diet for 30 days. He gained like 30 lbs!! Plus his health steadily declined.

[Guest slamminshaun]

Eat Big Macs everyday and it will also cause you problems.

actually a double whopper with cheese is the worst in all fast food hamburgers w/ 1200 calories, 60g of fat, 300g of carbs...add large fries and a soda, ur looking at 2000 calories, over 800g of fat...

Check out what a "Grand Slam Breakfast" from Denny's has....I was shocked to find out how much fat and calories were in that.

[Guest ddg]

Eat Big Macs everyday and it will also cause you problems.

actually a double whopper with cheese is the worst in all fast food hamburgers w/ 1200 calories, 60g of fat, 300g of carbs...add large fries and a soda, ur looking at 2000 calories, over 800g of fat...

damn..thats why im getting fatter..... :-X

[Guest Cosmigonon]

Eat Big Macs everyday and it will also cause you problems.

actually a double whopper with cheese is the worst in all fast food hamburgers w/ 1200 calories, 60g of fat, 300g of carbs...add large fries and a soda, ur looking at 2000 calories, over 800g of fat...

Damn, I just had one of those...

[all4tribal1414779019]

Eat Big Macs everyday and it will also cause you problems.

actually a double whopper with cheese is the worst in all fast food hamburgers w/ 1200 calories' date=' 60g of fat, 300g of carbs...add large fries and a soda, ur looking at 2000 calories, over 800g of fat...

[/quote']

Check out what a "Grand Slam Breakfast" from Denny's has....I was shocked to find out how much fat and calories were in that.

healthy living dot com article about "8 foods u should avoid"

This belt-buster breakfast (2 eggs, 2 sausage links, 2 strips of bacon, and 2 pancakes) may seem like a great deal to your wallet, but it's no bargain for your heart. It'll sock you with three-quarters of a day's total fat (50 grams) and saturated fat (14 grams), nearly a full day's sodium (2,240 mg), one-and-a-half day's cholerserol (460 mg) - and 800 calories. If you're craving a hearty breakfast, try Denny's Slim Slam instead. It slashes the calories to 600, the fat to 12 grams, the saturated fat to 3 grams, and the cholesterol to a mere 35mg