Comment · Sun, November 11, 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
appliedphilosophy · 2 points
I greatly respect your search for the truth, whatever it may turn out to be. There is a sense of the word "rationalization" that relates to the evasion of truth for whatever emotional reason. The sense I meant, however, is that of finding reasons to diminish the relevance of observed facts to justify one's desires and ways of behaving. In this case, it honestly seems to me that there is a gap between the apparent dangers of MDMA and the somewhat reckless activities you mention. Re-dosing increasis the risk of neurotoxicity, and you know that, but you also treat it as if it was not a big deal... just knowing that it is statistically harmful does not protect you from the probably and random possible harm.
But I do want to emphazise I like a lot that you take a great deal of effort to have an accurate picture of what is the truth in this case. I'm just afraid that, as I have and so many of my reckless friends, we know the risks but still jutify to ourselves our activities by convincing ourselves that "it is worth it." In the long run, I'm afraid the risks are significant enough and enduring enough to justify a policy of simply not taking MDMA.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb
Life is a complex system of managing risk. Getting into your car to go to work every day, puts your safety at risk. You have very little control over what the outcome of that drive will be. You are bound by the limitations of the skill, attentiveness, and care that the other drivers put into theirs. Yet we still get in. Love is a dangerous leverage of risk. You are opening your emotions to another, and risking it all for the chance at something greater. Even when time after time our hearts are broken and our trust destroyed, we open ourselves right back up at the next best chance. We know the risks, yet we manage to determine what is an acceptable level within the way we want to live our lives. MDMA has made a big difference in my life. I went through a bad depression that almost took my life. There was no reason for it, and no apparent cause. I had never done drugs, and had loving friends and family, yet life still drained the emotion from me. I was seconds from ending it multiple times. The only thing that kept me here was the knowledge that it would destroy my family and girlfriend. After losing pretty much everything, I had two choices. End it, or get out of it. I chose the latter. Coming out of the depression after you have lost everything is the hardest thing I have ever known. Nothingness turned to deep sadness. But I felt again! There was something more than the deep void that filled me before; even if it was sadness. I slowly came back to the world. After I had mostly put my life back together, I decided to try MDMA. I researched and planned. The first time I took it, my brain exploded. I had never felt this happiness before. My mind was finally opened. I finally knew how happy life could be! I didn't take it again for another year, but I didn't need to. I was alive again! I wanted to know what caused it, and how my brain functioned. I researched and studied. I also have a histamine disorder, so I started researching neurochemistry. Since then my life has become more full and complete than I could have ever imagined. I ahve learned how my brain works, not only chemically, but emotionally. I am connected to everyone around me, and I care more than ever. MDMA showed me how happy my brain could be, and that's all it took. Sometimes that's all we need, just to be shown the possibilities. So you see, my complex system of managing risk is calculating more than yours. My life almost ended multiple times by my own hand. I am ok with a certain level of risk, as long as my experience on this Earth is enhanced. I am going to go ATVing in the California sand dunes today. There is great risk involved there. I now it, and it's worth it.