Comment · Fri, November 9, 2012
Research Suggests no Neurotoxicity in MDMA
Original post in this thread
PuffyCheek · 194 points
In partial response to what I've been reading in the bestof'd thread here at /drugs, I think it would be good to start a discussion about the neurotoxicity in MDMA.
I feel as if the harmful effects discussed in the thread were overblown. According to a research done by the Harvard Medical School last year in 2011, users who were asked to use MDMA under a controlled setting over a certain period of time showed no signs of cognitive impairment nor decreased mental ability.
So the question remains, why do we have so much evidence from past research studies that show otherwise? The researchers at Harvard Medical School responded by saying that past research studies lacked a proper control environment. What that means is that past research studies did not control their test group to make sure they didn't engage in unhealthy activities after ingesting MDMA (i.e. going to a rave and dancing for 8 hours straight).
No research since 2011 has proved Harvard Medical School's conclusion wrong, that MDMA is actually harmful to your brain. No other research studies that I could personally find had settings as controlled as the one conducted by HMS.
That being said, research was done…
What they were answering
myreaderaccount · 3 points
To be fair, rat models may also differ markedly from human use, as well-- for whatever reason, this seems to be particularly true for phenthylamines. For example, amphetamine causes significant significant damage in serotonergic neuronal cells, which is not true in most other animal models and is, as far as we know, also untrue for humans.
That is, as I'm sure you know, metabolism is different, but even a dosage conversion doesn't mean doses are clinically equivalent.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb
Sure, there is never going to be a perfect conversion from rats/mice to humans for all substances. We are different animals with different metabolisms. Those conversion rates are pretty close given our current understanding. Will we ever know for sure? I doubt it. That is unless someone volunteers to take MDMA then have their brain sliced up and studied. But cross-referencing rat with mice and primate studies can get us close.
Personally, I feel as though humans show less neurotoxicity because we have more efficient ways of delivering antioxidants. Not because the mechanisms are different for the cause. This is just a personal postulation at this point, given my research.