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Agony and ecstasy: a review of MDMA effects and toxicity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

C. Burgess ,
A. O’Donohoe  and
M. Gill
C. Burgess*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, The Trinity Health Sciences Centre, St. James's Hospital,Dublin 8, Ireland
A. O’Donohoe
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, The Trinity Health Sciences Centre, St. James's Hospital,Dublin 8, Ireland
M. Gill
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, The Trinity Health Sciences Centre, St. James's Hospital,Dublin 8, Ireland
*
*Correspondence and reprints: Dr. Ciara Burgess, Specialist Registrar in Psychiatry, The Postgraduate Medical Education Centre, Box 342, Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB1 5EF, UK
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Summary

Background

Background – Ecstasy is a recreational drug with an anecdotal reputation for safety. However, reports of adverse effects and fatalities have increased in the medical and popular press.

Methods

Method – Literature search and review.

Results

Results – Acute Ecstasy toxicity does not appear to be due to overdose and cannot be solely attributed to the nature of the usual ambient environment. Adverse effects include hyperthermia, seizures, cardiac arrhythmias, hepatotoxicity, hyponatraemia and many psychiatric disorders. Ecstasy causes serotonergic neurotoxicity in the brains of animals at doses close to those used by humans, but its long-term effect on the human brain is unknown.

Conclusions

Conclusion – Ecstasy toxicity should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a variety of medical and psychiatric conditions. Given its popularity, both the acute and the potential long-term effects are a cause for concern.

Keywords

ecstasygeneticMDMAserotonintoxicity
Type
Review
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 15 , Issue 5 , August 2000 , pp. 287 - 294
Copyright
Copyright © Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS 2000

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