London - The drug ecstasy, which has been associated with many deaths, causes long-term brain damage, according to research in the United States.
A team from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Maryland, and the US National Institute of Mental Health, took brain scans of 14 long-term users of 3,4-methyl-enedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, the chemical name for the drug that reportedly induces increased awareness of emotion.
They found the drug damaged the nerves in the brain which release serotonin, the naturally-occurring chemical that plays a role in mood, memory, pain perception, sexual desire, sleep and appetite. The researchers report in the Lancet today that they tapped the drug users' spinal fluid and found low levels of a serotonin byproduct.