Ecstasy Users Not So Cool

muhahaha... i knew that subject heading would get you! Actually it was a headline from a small article in the SMH today... read on...
"users of the drug ecstasy who are drinking bottled water to keep cool are not protecting themselves against potential fatal overheating, a new study found
a researcher from Flinders University Adelaide, has found a side effect of the drug is shutting down the body's internal cooling mechanisms, with the bodies of ecstasy users not responding to internal overheating. Drinking copious amounts of water is likely to have little effect.
'I'm saying the simple idea that if you drink lots of everything will be OK is not really right' Prof Bill Blessing from the Dept of Medicine and Physiology said.
He said he had studied the efffects of ecstasy on body cooling in rabbits"
Hmmm... I'll still be drinking my 'copious' amounts (1 bottle per hour) of water
a) even if it isn't actually doing anything as far as body cooling goes, it still feels like it is.
b) what about dehydration factor, gotta replace those fluid you lose on the dancefloor or else you'll be feeling it tomorrow.
c) how funny does water taste like when on e (chlorine-like for me). Granted it tastes like i'm drinking mouthfuls from a public pool/toilet... but still its wierd.

I can't see how a cold frosty water couldn't at least cool you down a little...
waters good for you anyway

I like how they test animals and think its the same with us. I can SAFELY say water does cool me down. It keeps me hydrated. It keeps me alive. Better than NOT drinking anything huh?
Besides....
"He said he had studied the efffects of ecstasy on body cooling in rabbits"
Do I look like a fucking rabbit
*Blufluffybunny looks in mirror... AGGGHHHHH*

Stylin would like to point out that he is verryy cool.... well at least my mummy thinks to

I'd be interested to know whats meant by

shutting down the body's internal cooling mechanisms, with the bodies of ecstasy users not responding to internal overheating

Click to expand...

Seems very non-specific
------------------
So now the people who had no land have farms, things in the jungle might be uncomfortable but at least they have part of their crops and can hope for a good harvest. Their new home is likely to be on the edge of one of the big new roads such as the Trans-Amazonian Highway. It's an impressive sounding name but really its just a very long single track dirt road.

That statement is a tad sensationalistic. A large dose of MDMA impairs the body's internal cooling mechanisms, as serotonin is required for them function proper. And as a result your response to overheating is slightly impaired... but if your body relied on one pathway/mechanism for any of the many and varied required components for life, we'd all be
a) forced to live in bubbles or
b) extinct
Sounds like the study has been conducted in order to obtain some further evidence that 'ectasy is bad, mmmkay'. And as such, anything which can possibly be taken to the contrary is ignored... and that's what we call "good science"... if your results don't fit your hypothesis, you make them fit.

I was told when I used to run alot that body temp. water(or close to body temp)is better as it uses less energy to cycle through the body because when the water is colder/hot it has to be warmed/cooled to body temp anyhow.......therefore using extra energy.Was I told wrong info

That's right.
drinking water at body temp is easier on your body. Less of an immediate cooling effect, but it rehydrates you better, and then your body's cooling systems use that water to cool you down.
When energy use is a concern, body temp water is best, as it uses less energy and has a long term effect, faster.
Your body's main way of losing heat is thru the skin, when sweating.

The article may have some god points but the way it is put is terribly bad.
Dehydration and heat stroke go hand in hand.
Perhaps drinking water doesnt actually cool you down, but its very likely it prevents you from dying in a hot club whilst under the influence of MDMA.
So if u werent drinking water, heat stroke is far far more likely.
The body temperature and serotonin thing has been known for a while, but what i found interesting was another article claiming MDMA caused constriction of the blood vessels NEAR the skin, meaning that blood flow is lessened near the skin.
As most of us would know you become red when hot because blood flow to the skin is increased, to COOL you.
Ever wonder why no one is beetroot red whilst on pills (despite being horribly hot) and instead a grisly pasty pale colour.
I am not sure how blood flow to the skin effects sweating though.
At the recent madhatters ball (fancy dress dance party) i almost became a casualty from overheating.
It still bothers me how i allowed myself to get into the position i did.
The simple reason probably was i was doing something i had done many times before but in an environment and circumstances unlike any other i had before. I ended up forgetting the basic golden rules everyone must abide by.
The point to this being, i dont really remember sweating much while in the costume. (it certainly wasnt damp after removing it) It was only when i finally took it off and the effect of the drug started to wane that i began to sweat PROFUSELY. Even when i was not moving.
A bit of a worry, but obviously drinking water, taking breaks and wearing acceptable clothing is what u should be doing, and articles implying drinking water is a waste of time r to be ignored.

i'm with you prom. it all seems a bit non-specific-we-just-want-more-bad-stuff-on-e
dunno. it's prolly partly true, but not completely.
$0.02

Increased blood flow to the skin doesn't directly relate to sweating, they are distinct. Heat loss from increased peripheral blood flow is simply by convection. The heat from the inners of your hot body is partially carried to the surface via blood, and then lost to the environment, provided the environment is cooler, which is the case unless you're in a very fucking hot place
Sweat causes heat loss by air flow... man I'm a little rusty here... but the effect of evaporation causes a lot of heat loss, and in a warm environment is the bodies main, or sole form of heat loss, as the convection thing becomes negligable at temperatures close to body temp.
I think sweating and peripheral vasodilation are be linked somehow... but I'd have to look that one up. They function in unison, and are controlled by the same centre of the brainy, but what I"m trying to remember is, is it the same enzyme/factor? Because if MDMA inhibits this factor, then... we wouldn't sweat Ok I guess I answered myself
And and heat is lost via a lot of fluid loss... eg sweating and breathing

umm so we all know that sweating is a key part of your body's cooling system. as entropope said it works because the sweat (liquid) on your skin evaporates. as individual water molecules vapourise they take with them some heat energy (this is the energy required to convert the liquid molecules into gas form as they evaporate). because the gas takes heat energy away, the average temperature of the liquid remaining on your skin is lowered very slightly. when this happens a lot the temperature can drop a fair bit (outback people used to use this technique to cool food before refrigeration was available - it's called a "Coolgardie Safe" or similar, involves a hession bag holding food dipped in water and hung up in flowing air). the drop in temp of the liquid sweat causes a thermodynamic gradient between your skin and the liquid, and so heat flows off your skin and into the liquid, which gives the liquid molecules enough energy to become gas and evaporate, and it all happens like this continuously. net effect: lowered body temperature.
now, this requires sweat to be secreted from your sweat pores in the skin. if you don't drink water and you sweat a lot (from dancing or whatever in a hot club), you'll run out of water in your body. when that happens you will stop sweating, your body won't be able to release heat effectively, and you will begin to overheat. also, your extracellular fluid volume will drop (the volume of liquid in your bloodstream and interstitial fluid). this can result in kidney damage, reduced blood pressure and a few other nasty physiologic challenges and in extreme cases maybe even cellular shrinkage.
IMHO telling people that drinking water is not effective in cooling would be a fairly dangerous thing to say. perhaps he's right in that it doesn't help *internal* cooling (whatever that means), but if you don't drink, you can't sweat. if you can't sweat, you WILL heat up. so people, keep those fluids up! (but not too much)...
BTW if you're not sweating and you heat up, dousing yourself and your clothes with water has the same evaporative cooling effect, so do that too.
that's just what i think.
DQ.

Just thought I'd mention that people should be careful to not drink too MUCH water either.
There have been known cases of people overdrinking while pilling (cause they thought it would help and they were high enough to just keep on drinking) - which causes them to effectively drown themselves.
Just think how much you would drink if you weren't pilling, and just keep to the same amount.

Drink water -- Don't drink too much water -- Drink water -- Don't drink too much water...
How much is enough????
Try to drink at least 350-500mL per hour if you're dancing on MDMA in a club... that means one small bottle of water an hour if you're active. Sip the water as you feel thirsty, try not to guzzle it all at once. Let your body be your guide - if you feel thirsty, sip more. If you don't feel thirsty, then just remember a bottle an hour is a good guide.
BigTrancer

Mkay...
In hypothermia victims it is know to be bad to give them alcohol as this dilates the blood vessels near to the skin. This causes the blood near the skin to cool more quickly thus worsening the effects of hypothermia.
So I would postulate: blood conducts heat pretty well (fact), and if you are dripping with sweat and the sweat is cooling your skin and the blood vessels are furthur away from the skin, then the cooling effect would most definately be worse.
Helpful?
DB

I thought that mdma inhibits fluid loss so you sweat less and can't urinate as much. This is why drinking too much water is dangerous, as you can't get rid of it like your body normally would. In my experience this does seem true.
Stupid article. It assumes that ppl drink water to stay cool, rather to stop dehydration. Duh!
I just imagine those littly bunnies on e:
"Hey feel my fur, it's sooo soft"