Club Drugs (Ecstasy & Methamphetamine) Can Cause Permanent Brain Damage
They're Just as Dangerous as a Traumatic Brain Injury
Researchers at the University of Florida recently detailed their findings in a recent press release. Most of the current crop of club drugs are some type of methamphetamine, including the commonly known drugs, Ecstasy or speed. They conducted a five-year study to determine what effects, if any, these drugs might cause.
The researchers determined that both methamphetamine use and traumatic brain injuries causes the same type of damage to the cell structures and protein fluctuations in the brain. Over 30,000 different proteins are found in the human brain. Methamphetamine use and traumatic brain injuries alter about 12 percent of these proteins.
Since the damage caused by methamphetamine use and traumatic brain injuries is so similar, researchers theorize that the same, or very similar, process is at work, regardless of which of the two factors caused the process to begin.
While many methamphetamine users think that these drugs wear off just like alcohol or aspirin, they may be wrong, said the researchers. Based upon the data they studied, researchers believe that the damage caused by methamphetamine use is "not readily reversible." Whether or not the damage can ever be reversed would need to be the subject of a different study.
"Using methamphetamine is like inflicting a traumatic brain injury on yourself. We found that a lot of brain cells are being injured by these drugs. That's alarming to society now. People don't seem to take club drugs as seriously as drugs such as heroin or cocaine," said Firas Kobeissy, a postdoctoral associate in the College of Medicine department of psychiatry
According to a 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, over 1.3 million people reported using methamphetamine drugs in the previous month. The drug use included young people as young as 12 years old. Additionally, over 12 million Americans admitted that they have tried methamphetamines at some point in the past according to a 2004 survey.
What are club drugs?
The term, club drugs, refers to the general class of drugs that many people consume when they go to dance parties, music parties, or clubs. Examples include the drug called Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, as well as other varieties of methamphetamine drugs.
Where are club drugs used?
Club drugs are usually used at parties that are geared to young adults, and often attracht people ranging from 16 to 29 years old. There are many different names for these parties. Sometimes the party is called a 'rave,' sometimes a 'trance,' or they could even be used at the dance club down the street.
Sources:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/uof-cdi112907.php
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/clubdrugs.html
http://www.theantidrug.com/drug_info/drug_info_clubdrugs.asp
Published by Patty Oh
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14 Comments
Post a Commentwatare they towkin abowt? methth doesn,t give, yu breynndammage=iuseit and im fayn see1&
i am leaving a commentttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt..this was a good article..sort of
well,even though they get the information doesn't mean they wont try the drugs any way,then they are addicted which leads too a whole different world sober people will never understand. It is a terrible tragedy plain and simple.
Jeanne, You're presuming that those involved have no firsthand knowledge of drugs, when they very well could have -- but not want to admit to it publicly for personal reasons. You're right, however, by the time people are using drugs they generally don't care a hoot about potential problems. The time to get this info to people is long before they contemplate using drugs. Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
While there is useful information in this article and it is very well written, I have to say that the info itself is similar to most of the information out there about meth and club drugs: gathered by those who have no personal knowledge of the effects of drugs. I never once believed the effects of meth would wear off like an aspirin - hell, users count on and hope for the very opposite of that, as far as effects are concerned! No one dwells on the damage. It was always about the high. The heart of addiction is what needs to be talked about - I could have cared less about long term effects when using.
Also, If you follow the "sources" in this article you'll see that only one is pertinent to the issue in hand, and it is but a bitesize article like this one and does not accurately cite references or sources.
This is very unreliable.
"While many methamphetamine users think that these drugs wear off just like alcohol or aspirin"
Wow, just wow. Alcohol causes some of the worst drug related brain damage known.
Dearest all,
the article discusses mainly Methamphetamine
oh, and last comment: "Club Drug" is a sweeping, inaccurate statement. Most clubs and "raves" include a decent amount of sober ravers, some just smoking pot or drinking, and most using MDMA, although cocaine is very common too (but the same person usually will not use both.. for example i like MDMA but hate coke). Also used is ketamine, and GHB. I have not seen one person using or being on meth at any rave.
Also, i'm hoping mdma is nothing like alcohol (which is far more dangerous and kills far more people a year than the total amount of MDMA deaths, and there are zero solely from MDMA itself).
I guess the post was too long. I will just say that MDMA and methamphetamine work in very different ways, and just because MDMA= methylenedioxymethamphetamine, it does not have nearly the same effects. MDMA is mostly serotinergic, Methamphetamine is dopaminergic.
Where is the evidence that both cause the same kind of damage? They talk about them like its the same drug.
Sounds like propaganda to me...