Comment · Wed, November 28, 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
engjosh88 · 1 points
Woah woah woah. Those are just a few brain areas, definitely not all. Also that's a very small range with one study on rats. The take home message from that study was to show when it could potentially be more fatal in relation to temperature not when you can find a safe temperature to use the drug. Doesn't exempt complete brain damage at all.
WAY more importantly is that this was written in 1998 and is completely irrelevant.
Can you prevent neurotoxicity by following a guideline of other drugs based on a 14 year old study that proved nothing conclusive about the affects of MDMA on a few parts of the rat brain? Holy cow would you be a genius if this works. I won't even begin to elaborate on nootropics and their affects on the average human brain.
"Not one single study in the history of MDMA has shown neurotoxocity when body temperature has been kept steady. NOT ONE." You seem very confident of this? Why is that? You've read every single article?
I apologize because I cannot link to the academic articles offered in my school's database because they require a password but here's an exert from just one of many:
"Animal models suggest that MDMA causes chronic serotonin neurotoxicity, especially in neocortex. Given the role of serotonin in a broad range of brain functions, it is critical to determine whether MDMA is associated with serotonin neurotoxicity in humans. Studies…
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb
My determinations arise from over 40 different studies over the last 30 years. I do not just make an assumption based upon a single rat study. I have a number of different one on primates and even humans.
Also, this post is EXTREMELY simplistic. It's on /r/Drugs and already got me messages saying that it's too complicated, or they don't understand it.
Read this one that I wrote- http://www.reddit.com/r/DrugNerds/comments/13lp0b/mdma_neurotoxicity_part_1_metabolites/
I have since gathered even more specific evidence for my theory, thanks to a gracious Redditor with access. He got me all the studies in full. They have provided much more evidence in primates and humans.
I am going to write another post soon in /r/DrugNerds about the whole thing. If you would like to discuss specifics with me before then, feel free.
There are a bunch of other mechanisms to talk about as well, like dopamine and glutamate toxicity. That's going to have to be a whole other post, given the specifics of it.