Interesting report from Adelaide on MSN today...
Breakthrough made in ecstasy deaths
Australian researchers have found that designer drug ecstasy causes a severe drop in blood flow to the skin - which could contribute to heatstroke.
Most research into ecstasy's sometimes fatal side effects has concentrated on heat production caused by the drug, which increases the metabolic rate in users, many of whom take it while dancing for hours.
Both of those factors generate extra heat, sending body temperature soaring, causing membranes to break down, renal failure and brain swelling.
However, the researchers at Adelaide's Flinders Medical Centre are the first to study whether the drug also affects the body's ability to cool itself, New Scientist magazine says.
The team, led by William Blessing, gave ecstasy to rabbits and found that it triggered severe constriction of the blood vessels leading to the skin in their ears.
"Blood flow drops to near zero straight away. The ear goes as white as a sheet," Blessing says.
Diverting blood to the skin is an important way of cooling down, so this could contribute to the heatstroke that has killed more than 100 people worldwide since ecstasy hit the club scene 15 years ago.
The researchers restored blood flow in the rabbits' ears to normal with a drug called clozapine, which blocks serotonin receptors in the brain and is normally used to treat schizophrenia.
Clozapine can have severe side effects so would not be ideal as an antidote to ecstasy, but Blessing suggests similar drugs could help people suffering from heatstroke.
Breakthrough made in ecstasy deaths
Australian researchers have found that designer drug ecstasy causes a severe drop in blood flow to the skin - which could contribute to heatstroke.
Most research into ecstasy's sometimes fatal side effects has concentrated on heat production caused by the drug, which increases the metabolic rate in users, many of whom take it while dancing for hours.
Both of those factors generate extra heat, sending body temperature soaring, causing membranes to break down, renal failure and brain swelling.
However, the researchers at Adelaide's Flinders Medical Centre are the first to study whether the drug also affects the body's ability to cool itself, New Scientist magazine says.
The team, led by William Blessing, gave ecstasy to rabbits and found that it triggered severe constriction of the blood vessels leading to the skin in their ears.
"Blood flow drops to near zero straight away. The ear goes as white as a sheet," Blessing says.
Diverting blood to the skin is an important way of cooling down, so this could contribute to the heatstroke that has killed more than 100 people worldwide since ecstasy hit the club scene 15 years ago.
The researchers restored blood flow in the rabbits' ears to normal with a drug called clozapine, which blocks serotonin receptors in the brain and is normally used to treat schizophrenia.
Clozapine can have severe side effects so would not be ideal as an antidote to ecstasy, but Blessing suggests similar drugs could help people suffering from heatstroke.
