poledriver
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2005
- Messages
- 11,543
Aus - Brain damage 'crisis' looms from illicit drug use
A high rate of illegal stimulant use in Australia has prompted fears of a looming health crisis.
Researchers in Adelaide are investigating links between stimulant use and an increased risk of people developing Parkinson's disease.
They said many drug users were developing a brain abnormality which also was seen in people afflicted with Parkinson's.
"People who have used illegal stimulants in the past have a change in a brain region that's right in the middle of their brain called the susbtantia nigra," explained Dr Gabrielle Todd, a senior researcher at the University of South Australia.
A recent German study found otherwise-healthy people with that abnormality were 17 times more likely than others to develop Parkinson's.
"When we looked at the brain stems of fairly young people, all less than 45 years old, they had the same changes that we saw in people with Parkinson's disease," Flinders Medical Centre neurologist Dr Rob Wilcox said.
"Stimulant drugs are particularly addictive and so people who use those not only use it once, but tend to use it for a long time."
A joint study by UniSA and Flinders is looking at 200 people.
They are being split into four groups; ecstasy users, amphetamine users, marijuana smokers and a group of people who have never used drugs.
Ultrasound test
An ultrasound technique is to be used to examine the substantia nigra and test people's motor skills.
"We're looking at various elements of movement, including walking, balance, speech and how people use their hands," Dr Todd said.
Dr Wilcox said the national household drug survey in 2010 showed 1.9 million people had tried ecstasy, and almost one million had experimented with drugs such as methamphetmine.
"Australia and New Zealand have a two to five times higher rate of the use of stimulant drugs than anywhere else in the world," he said.
"We're very concerned that we may be creating a future health problem here and that people using these drugs, that see them simply as a recreational day out or night out, might not realise the consequences that will happen to them 10, 20, 30 years into the future.
"They might burn the system out, what neurologists call excito-toxicity, so make the system run too fast and sort of wear it out before its time."
'Live for the moment'
A former stimulant drug user who is taking part in the trial has found out he does display the brain abnormality.
He says he never thought about any long-term effects when he was using drugs.
"It was 'live for the moment' and the future wasn't thought about too much when I was doing that sort of stuff," he said.
"I tried cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy."
He wanted to warn others who might be considering using stimulant drugs.
"I'd say it's a guess on what they're taking, so that's where I'd say 'be careful because you never know what you're taking'," he said.
Researchers hoped their study findings might become a way to deter other current stimulant users and those who might consider the pathway in the future.
"It might be actually quite a powerful public health tool to try to prevent young people from using these types of things," Dr Todd said.
The research is expected to take about 18 months.
With a vid at -
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-13/health-fears-loom-over-illegal-drug-use/4681600
A high rate of illegal stimulant use in Australia has prompted fears of a looming health crisis.
Researchers in Adelaide are investigating links between stimulant use and an increased risk of people developing Parkinson's disease.
They said many drug users were developing a brain abnormality which also was seen in people afflicted with Parkinson's.
"People who have used illegal stimulants in the past have a change in a brain region that's right in the middle of their brain called the susbtantia nigra," explained Dr Gabrielle Todd, a senior researcher at the University of South Australia.
A recent German study found otherwise-healthy people with that abnormality were 17 times more likely than others to develop Parkinson's.
"When we looked at the brain stems of fairly young people, all less than 45 years old, they had the same changes that we saw in people with Parkinson's disease," Flinders Medical Centre neurologist Dr Rob Wilcox said.
"Stimulant drugs are particularly addictive and so people who use those not only use it once, but tend to use it for a long time."
A joint study by UniSA and Flinders is looking at 200 people.
They are being split into four groups; ecstasy users, amphetamine users, marijuana smokers and a group of people who have never used drugs.
Ultrasound test
An ultrasound technique is to be used to examine the substantia nigra and test people's motor skills.
"We're looking at various elements of movement, including walking, balance, speech and how people use their hands," Dr Todd said.
Dr Wilcox said the national household drug survey in 2010 showed 1.9 million people had tried ecstasy, and almost one million had experimented with drugs such as methamphetmine.
"Australia and New Zealand have a two to five times higher rate of the use of stimulant drugs than anywhere else in the world," he said.
"We're very concerned that we may be creating a future health problem here and that people using these drugs, that see them simply as a recreational day out or night out, might not realise the consequences that will happen to them 10, 20, 30 years into the future.
"They might burn the system out, what neurologists call excito-toxicity, so make the system run too fast and sort of wear it out before its time."
'Live for the moment'
A former stimulant drug user who is taking part in the trial has found out he does display the brain abnormality.
He says he never thought about any long-term effects when he was using drugs.
"It was 'live for the moment' and the future wasn't thought about too much when I was doing that sort of stuff," he said.
"I tried cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy."
He wanted to warn others who might be considering using stimulant drugs.
"I'd say it's a guess on what they're taking, so that's where I'd say 'be careful because you never know what you're taking'," he said.
Researchers hoped their study findings might become a way to deter other current stimulant users and those who might consider the pathway in the future.
"It might be actually quite a powerful public health tool to try to prevent young people from using these types of things," Dr Todd said.
The research is expected to take about 18 months.
With a vid at -
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-13/health-fears-loom-over-illegal-drug-use/4681600
