Posted by stjames on April 23, 2001, at 18:33:59
In reply to Re: Ecstasy use is safe, posted by Adam on April 23, 2001, at 17:38:13
Ecstacy (3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA) tends to cause a temporary but severe depletion of dopamine and serotonin in dopaminergic and serotonertic neurons, respectively, in the CNS. The effect is most severe in the serotonergic neurons, where chronic use can actually cause destruction of axons, which must regrow to restore funtion to the damaged cell. This can lead to much more lasting depressive effects. It has been shown recently that chronic use of d-methamphetamine (MDMA's synthetic precursor, similar in some ways in its mechanism of action) can lead to presenescent dementia, with users in their twenties and thirties displaying loss of central domamine neurons typical of those in their fifties and sixties.
James here....
It was proven some time ago that MDMA and analogues have no effect on dopamine.
James
poster:stjames
thread:60822
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010417/msgs/60900.html