Posted by Shawn. T. on September 28, 2005, at 15:17:37
In reply to Does Ectasy Cause Brain Damage and Depression?, posted by Phillipa on September 28, 2005, at 0:34:25
Ecstasy use doesn't influence the development of depressive symptoms in everyone. For instance, Roiser et al. (2005) have found that unlike people with the ss or ls genotype, ecstasy use is not associated with higher Beck Depression Inventory scores in people with the ll genotype of the serotonin transporter gene (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15741482).
Brain damage is the permanent death or degeneration of brain cells. Is there any strong scientific evidence to suggest that ecstasy is causing the permanent death or degeneration of brain cells? The answer to that question is absolutely not. Last year, Wang and colleagues at the National Institute on Drug Abuse published a report of a groundbreaking study that suggests that MDMA does not induce serotonin nerve terminal degeneration (http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDoc1&ID=6384). The drug decreases serotonin levels and decreases the amount of serotonin transporters associated with the plasma membrane, but no one has ever shown that it causes any permanent damage to serotonin nerve terminals. MDMA can induce hepatotoxicity, hyperthermia, and other health problems, so it is associated with health risks that should be taken seriously.
poster:Shawn. T.
thread:560483
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050927/msgs/560714.html