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Thomas S. May, M.A.Medical Writer |
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The Real Price of Ecstasy
Thomas S. May, Medical Writer Introduction Its chemical name is 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA for short, but it is also called ecstasy, Adam, XTC, X, or E. It comes in a small pill that can make you feel "good" or "happy" for about 6 hours and costs about $20. But according to some recent data, the true price of ecstasy-induced happiness may in fact be a lot higher. Allen Ho was a 21-year-old university student who went to an all-night dance party in October 1999 in Toronto (Ontario), Canada. He was discovered lying on the floor at 3:30 the next morning, unresponsive and having uncontrollable seizures. He died in the hospital 15 hours later. A
post-mortem drug test showed that he ingested an unknown quantity of MDMA.
It was impossible to determine how many ecstasy pills he had taken (it
could have been just one or two), due to the large variability in the
strength and purity of these pills, the coroner said. If You Don't Die
Although it occurs with increasing frequency, death is a relatively rare
side effect of ecstasy. There are, however, a number of other undesirable
consequences that often come after taking this drug.
Ecstasy can damage the brain and various other organs (like the liver) after just one use, according to Kathy Hegadoren, PhD. Her research shows that permanent damage is likely to occur even when MDMA is taken in moderate amounts for a relatively short time.
Dr. Robert Klitzman, assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia
University agrees: "We know that ecstasy can cause neurologic damage after
a single use," he says. "We also know from experiments done on monkeys
that the neurologic damage can last as long as 7 years. And humans are
much more sensitive to ecstasy than are monkeys." What Memory Impairment? Dr. Karl Jansen of the Maudsley Hospital in London also says that ecstasy can be quite toxic: Overall, he says, there is a lot of evidence that it does cause changes in the cells that produce serotonin, a critical signaling chemical in the brain. It may in fact be poisonous to these cells. Dr. Jansen is more skeptical about published reports of ecstasy-induced memory impairment, however. "I think we should be very dubious about reports of memory impairment where the people publishing those papers are not able to prove that the subjects had not been taking other drugs," he argues. "In the studies we did, we asked people not to take drugs for 2 or 3 weeks, but when we tested their urine, all the tests came back positive for amphetamine and all sorts of other drugs."
Watch Out for Rebound One of the more undesirable properties of ecstasy is that it causes some rather significant after-effects or rebound effects a couple of days following ingestion. After-effects can include drowsiness, muscle aches, general fatigue, and depression. "People feel quite good for about 6 hours and may feel a little high the next day, but then they usually feel quite low for a couple of days," Dr. Jansen explains. Serious, extended episodes of depression can also follow ecstasy use, according to Dr. Klitzman. "I've found that people who take ecstasy get quite depressed afterwards, and this could last several days," he says. "There are also clinical cases that have been reported of people who have developed quite severe depression or even panic attacks, or in some cases, psychoses after use of ecstasy."
Is It Addictive? Most experts believe that MDMA is not quite as addictive as some other drugs like heroin or cocaine. Yet, there is evidence that some people can become addicted to this drug. "People often say that the first time [they take ecstasy] is the best," Dr. Klitzman says. "The good effects go down and the bad effects go up after the first use." Dr. Jansen's research revealed similar findings and also found that although some people stopped taking ecstasy when it didn't work anymore, others continued to take it in quite large amounts. "I guess you can say that it can be used in a compulsive way," Dr. Jansen says.
Ecstasy Spreads Like STDs
Dr. Klitzman's research involved going to a number of clubs in New York City and having people fill out questionnaires about their drug use and other behavior. "What I've found out is that ecstasy was the third most common drug after alcohol and marijuana. Fifty percent of the people used ecstasy in the past year and about 20% used it once a week," he says.
Another interesting--and unexpected--finding was that people who used
ecstasy were almost three times as likely to have unsafe sex as those who
were not ecstasy users. "This suggests that people who use ecstasy might
be more likely to end up getting infected with HIV or other sexually
transmitted diseases," Klitzman says. "People say 'I only use it once a
month, so it's okay'. But the danger is that it could still cause brain
damage and lead to unsafe sex," he cautions.
Thomas S. May is a freelance
medical writer. Source: Medscape Health
Reprinted from Medscape Health for Consumers.
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