Posted by alohashirt on September 29, 2005, at 22:54:04
In reply to Re: Does Ectasy Cause Brain Damage and Depression? » alohashirt, posted by SLS on September 29, 2005, at 8:05:28
> > The following link has some interesting data http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/mdma/mdma_media1.shtml
>
> That link has some interesting allusions to the existence of data, but no citations to the data itself regarding the neurotoxicity of MDMA. The article seems to me to be more a critique of existing critiques.
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> > What is clear is that MDMA is much safer than nicotine or acohol
>
> I believe this is still a matter of opinion and open to investigation rather than being a self-evident, clear, and unambiguous conclusion.
>
> MDMA is a dangerous drug in high dosages, and much more apt to cause fatalities when abused recklessly than nicotine or alcohol. It has a very long half-life and its pharmacokinetics are not linear due to its saturation of liver enzymes. When used in overdose, MDMA does cause the major organs to shut down. This is probably due to hyperthermia, hepatonecrosis, and rhabdomyolysis. Perhaps this is what Phillipa was referring to.
>
> Regarding neurotoxicity, I haven't committed enough study time to refute the great bulk of studies that suggest that MDMA causes damage at serotonin synaptic terminals. At this time, however, I would worry that if methamphetamine (MA) produces neurotoxicity (I'm not convinced that it does), so might methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA).
>
>
> - Scott
>Scott - look at the numbers. In the US we have between 75,000 and 100,000 annual deaths attributed to alcohol related causes. Thats about 750 deaths per million. At the same time we have between one and seven deaths per million attributed to ecstasy. There is a tremendous amount of panic and rhetoric about the dangers of substance A or B (think ecstacy, Ritalin, steroids, ...) that just isn't backed up by data. If (any of these) are as dangerous as the worry-mongers suggest, where are the bodies? We know where the bodies of alcohol and nicotine related deaths are - I bet you could find one right now at your local ER if you went there. But vested interests and well-intentioned people ignore the elephant in the living room and focus on polishing the table leg caps.
poster:alohashirt
thread:560483
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050927/msgs/561150.html