Researcher are beginning to uncover startling information about new side effects of the drug Ecstasy.
We've heard about teenagers becoming extremely ill, even dying after taking the popular "club drug".
But now, researchers say even those who have felt no side effects could be in for some long term health problems.
News Specialist Lisa Conley has more.
Researchers have discovered a link between Ecstacy and seratonin cells in the brain.
It sounds harmless enough, but the damage this drug can do to these important cells after even one dose can have a huge lifelong effect on the most basic mechanisms of the body.
On the left, a healthy brain with billions of active seratonin cells. On the right, the brain of a former Ecstacy user free from the drug for 18 months.
But the damage is already done. The cells that help regulate the level of seratonin in the brain are destroyed and likely gone forever.
Dr. George Ricaurte, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins, lectured at the University of Utah today. He says these findings have huge implications.
George Ricaurte M.D.: "ALTHOUGH WE DON'T KNOW WHAT SERATONIN CELLS DO PRECISELY IN THE BRAIN, WE DO KNOW THAT THEY'RE STRONGLY IMPLICATED IN SOME VERY VITAL FUNCTIONS, FROM MOOD REGULATION TO THINKING AND MEMORY IMPULSE CONTROL, SLEEP, FOOD INTAKE AND APPETITE."
Ricaurte says mood regulation is the most interesting function. When someone is suffering from depression, the seratonin levels in their brain are too low.
Because Ecstacy attacks the seratonin cells, Ecstacy users become prime candidates for depression. But, more importantly, they may be immune to any treatment for it.
George Ricaurte M.D.: "VERY COMMONLY USED ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUG LIKE PROZAC WORKS BY INTERACTING WITH THE NERVE ENDING OF SERATONIN CELLS. WELL GUESS WHAT? THAT'S PRECISELY THE PORTION OF THE SERATONIN NERVE CELL THAT ECSTACY HAS DESTROYED."
Dr. Ricuarte says he has gathered his information from a large pool of scientific evidence and has summed up that we've only scratched the surface of Ecstacy side effects.
He says this should be a huge wakeup call for for anyone who's using the drug.
March 11, 2002
