New Ecstasy study

[Guest saintjohn]

Ecstasy-related memory impairment can be permanent

Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:33 PM ET

By Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Taking the drug Ecstasy can impair memory and learning, but giving up the drug can stop the slide in mental capacity, a new study shows. However, researchers also found evidence that in heavy Ecstasy users, the effects on memory may persist even after they quit.

"The message should be loud and clear that if you're using a lot, you're not going to recover learning and memory," Dr. Konstantine K. Zakzanis of the University of Toronto at Scarborough, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.

Zakzanis and his colleagues had previously shown that people who used Ecstasy, also known by the chemical name MDMA, experienced a decline in their memory over a one-year period. The 15 study participants' reported using the drug from 3 to 225 times over the course of the year.

The researchers looked at the same 15 people after another year had passed. Seven were still using the drug, while eight had become abstinent. The researchers evaluated their memory and learning using three tests, including the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test, which is designed to evaluate everyday memory function.

In all of the former users who had been abstinent for at least 32 weeks, test scores improved compared with their scores one year previously. However, some individuals' scores stayed the same. Current users showed continued decline, with more frequent and longer-term use of the drug tied to greater loss of memory and learning function.

The worst impairments were seen in episodic memory, meaning the sort of memory a person uses while watching a news story on television and then trying to describe it to another person later.

"The general conclusions that one can make are that if you stop using, your memory won't get worse," Zakzanis said. "Depending on how much you've used, your memory may or may not recover."

Zakzanis pointed out that damage to memory and learning is just one harmful aspect of Ecstasy use, which also has been tied to depression.

SOURCE: Neurology 2006;66:740-741.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyid=2006-03-22T173255Z_01_COL263112_RTRUKOC_0_US-ECSTASY-PERMANENT.xml&rpc=22

[Guest dahzel]

there was a special on hbo a few years back about a family that the father , son, and daughter had used ectasy. the kid went to have a cat-scan and they found large parts ofhis brain eaten away.the doctors said he would have permanent memory loss plus be at a higher risk for many illness's later in life. cause and effect is a bitch some times huh?

[Guest swirlundergrounder]

there was a special on hbo a few years back about a family that the father , son, and daughter had used ectasy. the kid went to have a cat-scan and they found large parts ofhis brain eaten away.the doctors said he would have permanent memory loss plus be at a higher risk for many illness's later in life. cause and effect is a bitch some times huh?

Yeah I saw this shit to. The show was called 'Small Town Ecstasy'. That kids brain was half way gone on the CAT scan images. That was a great documentary that people who use ecstasy on a regular basis need to see.

[Guest saintjohn]

That was a great documentary that people who use ecstasy on a regular basis need to see.

They were going to watch it, but forgot to set the VCR.

[PeteDekan1414777740]

there was a special on hbo a few years back about a family that the father , son, and daughter had used ectasy. the kid went to have a cat-scan and they found large parts ofhis brain eaten away.the doctors said he would have permanent memory loss plus be at a higher risk for many illness's later in life. cause and effect is a bitch some times huh?

thats a myth ..those so called "eaten away" portions of the brain are nutting more than areas that are temporarily shut down due to ecstasy .......

educate yourself .

[ryan2772]

huh? what did that say? where am i? damn.

[Guest jbit]

has been tied to depression

I think everyone thats tried it can vouch for this one.

[Guest swirlundergrounder]

has been tied to depression

I think everyone thats tried it can vouch for this one.

This occurs often during the 2nd or 3rd day after using it!

[Guest jbit]

has been tied to depression

I think everyone thats tried it can vouch for this one.

This occurs often during the 2nd or 3rd day after using it!

true

back in the day, i did enough of that shit for 10 people and paid the price. now i avoid it like the plague

[Guest Miss_Digital]

has been tied to depression

I think everyone thats tried it can vouch for this one.

This occurs often during the 2nd or 3rd day after using it!

it depletes your seratnin levels, thats why it happens they eventually go back

[Guest LeVeL]

Serotonin is believed to play an important part of the biochemistry of depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety.

Serotonin taken orally isn't passed into the serotonin pathways of the brain. Since it is such an important regulating chemical, the blood-brain barrier prevents serotonin in the blood stream from directly affecting serotonin levels in the brain.

In order to work around this wall, Doctors use a variety of psychiatric medications that affect serotonin levels indirectly, including MAO inhibitors, and SSRIs which includes the well known antidepressant fluoxetine (trade name: Prozac®)

All of these drugs affect the breakdown of serotonin after its use. After serotonin leaves a neuron it sits in the synapse triggering the other nearby neurons.

MAO (monoamine oxidase) breaks down this free floating serotonin. By inhibiting this action, the serotonin stays in the synapse longer, acting as if there were more of it. MAO Inhibitors react negatively with many foods and drugs and have a large list of side effects.

Serotonin is also re-absorbed by neurons for reuse. More recent drugs inhibit the reabsorbtion of serotonin, again making it stay in the synapse longer. These Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRI) have fewer (though still numerous) side effects and fewer reactions with other drugs.

The amino acid tryptophan is a chemical precursor of serotonin.

[Guest LeVeL]

People who take multiple doses of Ecstasy in one night ("stacking"). This might be due to the reinforcing effect of the drug wearing off over time. Often, if something feels good, one wants to do it again! Unfortunately, increased doses also increase the adverse effects, and some of these can become life-threatening. For example, repeated doses or a high dose of Ecstasy can cause heat injury due to hyperthermia, hypertension (high blood pressure), cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heart beat), muscle breakdown and renal failure due to salt and fluid depletion. Indicate that these dangerous effects can be produced by Ecstasy acting in the brain. Again, the hypothalamus is very important, because it regulates heart rate and blood pressure, fluid retention and kidney function and, of course, body temperature. If the body temperature gets too high, it can cause brain damage or even kill a person.

[Guest swirlundergrounder]

has been tied to depression

I think everyone thats tried it can vouch for this one.

This occurs often during the 2nd or 3rd day after using it!

it depletes your seratnin levels, thats why it happens they eventually go back

You can also speed up the process by going to your drug store and picking up a bottle of 5-HTP

[Guest Miss_Digital]

some one knows their E

[Guest swirlundergrounder]

some one knows their E

Yeah I wish.....

[Guest HouseJunkie]

If your life is shitty, it might not be a bad thing to loose your memory.

[Guest bcnjunkie]

huh? what did that say? where am i? damn.

;D

[Guest ShampooBabe]

this "new" study doesn't show me any "new"....