Club Drugs Inflict Damage Similar To Traumatic Brain Injury

[dav3]

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2007) ? What do suffering a traumatic brain injury and using club drugs have in common? University of Florida researchers say both may trigger a similar chemical chain reaction in the brain, leading to cell death, memory loss and potentially irreversible brain damage.

A series of studies at UF over the past five years has shown using the popular club drug Ecstasy, also called MDMA, and other forms of methamphetamine lead to the same type of brain changes, cell loss and protein fluctuations in the brain that occur after a person endures a sharp blow to the head, according to recentl findings.

"Using methamphetamine is like inflicting a traumatic brain injury on yourself," said Firas Kobeissy, a postdoctoral associate in the College of Medicine department of psychiatry. "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."

Working with UF researchers Dr. Mark Gold, chief of the division of addiction medicine at UF's McKnight Brain Institute and one of the country's leading experts on addiction medicine, and Kevin Wang, director of the UF Center for Neuroproteomics and Biomarkers Research, Kobeissy compared what happened in the brains of rats given large doses of methamphetamine with what happened to those that had suffered a traumatic brain injury.

The group's research has already shown how traumatic brain injury affects brain cells in rats. They found similar damage in the rats exposed to methamphetamine. In the brain, club drugs set off a chain of events that injures brain cells. The drugs seem to damage certain proteins in the brain, which causes protein levels to fluctuate. When proteins are damaged, brain cells could die. In addition, as some proteins change under the influence of methamphetamine, they also begin to cause inflammation in the brain, which can be deadly, Kobeissy said.

Kobeissy and other researchers in Gold's lab are using novel protein analysis methods to understand how drug abuse alters the brain. Looking specifically at proteins in the rat cortex, UF researchers discovered that about 12 percent of the proteins in this region of the brain showed the same kinds of changes after either methamphetamine use or traumatic brain injury. There are about 30,000 proteins in the brain so such a significant parallel indicates that a similar mechanism is at work after both traumatic brain injury and methamphetamine abuse, Kobeissy said.

"Sometimes people go to the clubs and take three tablets of Ecstasy or speed," Kobeissy said. "That may be a toxic dose for them. Toxic effects can be seen for methamphetamine, Ecstasy and traumatic injury in different areas of the brain."

About 1.3 million people over the age of 12 reported using methamphetamine in the previous month, according to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. In 2004, more than 12 million Americans reported having tried the drug, the survey's findings show.

People often think the effects of drugs of abuse wear off in the body the same way common medications do, but that may not be the case, Gold said.

"These data and the previous four years of data suggest some drugs, especially methamphetamine, cause changes that are not readily reversible," Gold said. "Future research is necessary for us to determine when or if methamphetamine-related brain changes reverse themselves."

Gold and Dennis Steindler, director of UF's McKnight Brain Institute and an expert on stem cells, are planning studies to find out if stem cells can be applied to repair drug-related brain damage.

UF researchers are also trying to uncover all the various ways drugs damage and kill brain cells. During their protein analysis, researchers discovered that oxidation was damaging some proteins, throwing the molecules chemically off balance.

"When proteins are oxidized they are not functional," Kobeissy said. "When proteins are not working, the cell cannot function."

Neurologist Dr. Jean Lud Cadet, chief of the molecular neuropsychiatry branch of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said analyzing proteins is important to understanding how drugs such as methamphetamine affect the brain.

"I think saying the results of methamphetamine abuse are comparable to the results of a traumatic brain injury is a new idea," Cadet said. "I agree with (the findings). Our own work shows that methamphetamine is pretty toxic to the brains of animals. In humans, imaging studies of patients who use methamphetamine chronically show abnormalities in the brain.

"Abuse of methamphetamine is very dangerous."

This research was presented at a Society for Neuroscience conference held recently in San Diego.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1129121127.htm

[Makaveli]

Yeah I've witnessed it first hand. A couple guys I know are zapped good from years of partying.

[xNetworx]

E makes you dumb

[dav3]

Don't get all down in the dumps just yet. Even if you are an e-tard or meth junkie, an article posted a little over a year ago shows a little hope for your traumatically injured brain.

Drug Improves Memory Loss For Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

ScienceDaily (Sep. 18, 2006) ? Traumatic brain injury patients with moderate to severe memory loss improved their memories while taking the drug rivastigmine, according to a study published in the September 12, 2006, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Researchers, who examined 134 men and women with traumatic brain injury at 19 centers across the United States, found attention and verbal memory test scores significantly improved among severely impaired patients who took rivastigmine for 12 weeks compared to placebo-treated patients. In one test, 30-percent of patients taking rivastigmine remembered five or more additional words, compared to 10-percent in the group receiving placebo. Rivastigmine is thought to enhance the function of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in memory and learning.

"With an estimated 1.5 million people suffering from traumatic brain injury each year in the United States, rivastigmine shows promising results for these patients with moderate to severe memory loss," said the study's lead author Jonathan M. Silver, MD, with the New York School of Medicine in New York.

While rivastigmine improved memory loss for patients with moderate to severe memory impairment, the study found the drug wasn't as helpful for patients with less severe memory loss.

"The beneficial effect of rivastigmine may not become apparent unless there is significant depletion of cholinergic activity in relevant brain regions causing a more profound impairment in memory or attention," said Silver. "This is an area where more research will be required to confirm these findings and to better define who may have the best response with rivastigmine."

The study found rivastigmine was safe and well-tolerated. The most common side effects were nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, headache, dizziness and vomiting, each of which was reported in at least 10% of patients in the rivastigmine group.

Over five million people in the United States are currently living with a disability related to traumatic brain injury.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0915204436.htm

[sumphatpimp]

brains are overrated

[sumphatpimp]

double post

[Blazed]

Whats a brain?

[JamesK]

Ecstasy is fucked up. Took 20 pills in 3 days a few years ago. Got sick and couldn't sleep for days, every time I rolled my eyes it felt like I got an electric shock to my brains. Not to mention if I focussed on something (for example my monitor) I got zoomed into it and it felt like I was going to fall.

The feeling is good but even if you take one pill you can expect a very bad day when it runs out. You just end up wanting more and more because you feel fucked.

[dav3]

Grey matter just oozed out of my ear.

[papill0n]

Originally Posted by JamesK

Ecstasy is fucked up. Took 20 pills in 3 days a few years ago. Got sick and couldn't sleep for days, every time I rolled my eyes it felt like I got an electric shock to my brains. Not to mention if I focussed on something (for example my monitor) I got zoomed into it and it felt like I was going to fall.

The feeling is good but even if you take one pill you can expect a very bad day when it runs out. You just end up wanting more and more because you feel fucked.

Ouch sounds like a bad time man

What goes up must come down

[Jace]

Originally Posted by JamesK

Ecstasy is fucked up. Took 20 pills in 3 days a few years ago. Got sick and couldn't sleep for days, every time I rolled my eyes it felt like I got an electric shock to my brains. Not to mention if I focussed on something (for example my monitor) I got zoomed into it and it felt like I was going to fall.

The feeling is good but even if you take one pill you can expect a very bad day when it runs out. You just end up wanting more and more because you feel fucked.

after reading that I would say you are the idiot with the addictive personality that is the issue, not the actual drug

[GrouchyAdmin]

...and here I thought it was club music that made you retarded.

[Hollywood Horwitz]

I'm so glad I never got into those..

[Angry Jew Cat - Banned for Life]

Originally Posted by Jace

after reading that I would say you are the idiot with the addictive personality that is the issue, not the actual drug

if you can't admit that you've done a chemical that has more than likely zapped a large portion of your mental potential. i'd say you have the problem. the shit will cake your fucking head, surely after all your years as a superleet raver you should be able to accept the fact. even dosing up with 5htp or whatever else you're doing to limit the effects, you're still eating your fucking brain everytime you pop even the cleanest pill...

i mean it's the individual's choice to make, we all make them, but you sure as hell aren't doing yourself any favors by doing it. and besides, people on ecstasy act like a bunch of fucking jackasses. it took going to a rave or to sober befor ei realized it. but hanging out with a bunch of tarded up people was more than enough to convince me i wasn't doing the shit anymore...

[JamesK]

Originally Posted by Jace

after reading that I would say you are the idiot with the addictive personality that is the issue, not the actual drug

If I had an addictive personality I wouldn't be able to stop smoking, doing drugs, gambling etc, wouldn't I? It's easy to throw out bad remarks to someone who says something negative about drugs, and just blame it on an addictive personality or a weak mind.

But the reality is that the shit fucks you up badly and the after effect is so bad that ppl want more to feel better. It's a fact that the shit burns your brain and is addictive so please don't even try to defend it, like it's something healthy and not addictive at all.

You can call me an idiot for taking so much drugs in a short period tho, I fully agree on that.

[dav3]

Live life or die bored!

[Porno Dan]

I am sticking with drugs nature provides us: the LSD bush, the PCP tree, and the MDMA vine.

[stev0]

Originally Posted by JamesK

Ecstasy is fucked up. Took 20 pills in 3 days a few years ago. Got sick and couldn't sleep for days, every time I rolled my eyes it felt like I got an electric shock to my brains. Not to mention if I focussed on something (for example my monitor) I got zoomed into it and it felt like I was going to fall.

The feeling is good but even if you take one pill you can expect a very bad day when it runs out. You just end up wanting more and more because you feel fucked.

Ecstasy isn't fucked up, the dose you gave yourself was fucked up! Taking that much won't get you any higher, your serotonin would have already been depleted and you'd just be poisoning yourself basically.

[seeric]

stupid people shouldn't use smart drugs.

as a casual user for years up until recently, i'm sharper, more focused, and more intelligent and thought retaining than ever. i can read something today and tell you exactly what it was next week.

don't believe the hype.

natural selection is at play.

strong brains, strong will to succeed, overrides most everything else.

many powerful successful people over the history of our country and other countries are evidence.

if you're a moron before you take drugs, you'll be worse of one after.

moral of the story: stupid people should stay clear of drugs.

[The Sultan Of Smut]

Originally Posted by sumphatpimp

brains are overrated

Originally Posted by sumphatpimp

double post

LOL

[fatfoo]

that's fucked up......

[slavdogg]

Originally Posted by stev0

Ecstasy isn't fucked up, the dose you gave yourself was fucked up! Taking that much won't get you any higher, your serotonin would have already been depleted and you'd just be poisoning yourself basically.

thats absolutely correct thats where the real damage accures is when taking way too many pills at once. There is no reason to take more than 2 pills in a day or even a week ever. Most of your serotonin gets depleted with the first pill.

I did the reve scene hard back in the day, did a lot of pills, but never took more than 2 and rarely more than once a week. Took a lot of vitaminc, and other antioxidants to replenish my system and of course GHB to bring me up when coming off E,

those were the GOOID TIMES !!!

[slavdogg]

Originally Posted by A1R3K

stupid people shouldn't use smart drugs.

as a casual user for years up until recently, i'm sharper, more focused, and more intelligent and thought retaining than ever. i can read something today and tell you exactly what it was next week.

don't believe the hype.

natural selection is at play.

strong brains, strong will to succeed, overrides most everything else.

many powerful successful people over the history of our country and other countries are evidence.

if you're a moron before you take drugs, you'll be worse of one after.

moral of the story: stupid people should stay clear of drugs.

NEW ORLEONS

[Jace]

Originally Posted by JamesK

You can call me an idiot for taking so much drugs in a short period tho, I fully agree on that.

that is pretty much all I was saying

and don't think I am not an idiot either, haha, there were weekends that I have popped 30+ pills in 2-3 days

[Jace]

Originally Posted by A1R3K

stupid people shouldn't use smart drugs.

as a casual user for years up until recently, i'm sharper, more focused, and more intelligent and thought retaining than ever. i can read something today and tell you exactly what it was next week.

don't believe the hype.

natural selection is at play.

strong brains, strong will to succeed, overrides most everything else.

many powerful successful people over the history of our country and other countries are evidence.

if you're a moron before you take drugs, you'll be worse of one after.

moral of the story: stupid people should stay clear of drugs.

right on brutha, 100% true shit right there

I have friends that have smoked weed since they were teenagers that can't tell you what they did yesterday, much less an hour ago, but yeah, ecstasy is the bad drug cause some idiot popped 20 pills in a night and yells "brain damage!"...well, yeah, NO SHIT dumbass

did you know if you eat a bunch of aspirin at once that isn't good for you either? LOL