Ecstasy harms brain on first use, study finds

People who use ecstasy for the first time could suffer impaired memory and harm to their brains, a new study of the dance drug's effects reveals.

Even low doses can cause changes to the brain, according to the first study to compare users before and after they took the drug for the first time. It found blood flow to parts of the brain was reduced and that users struggled in memory tests.

"We do not know if these effects are transient or permanent," said Maartje de Win at the University of Amsterdam, who led the study. "Therefore, we cannot conclude that ecstasy, even in small doses, is safe for the brain, and people should be informed of this risk."

According to the 2005-06 British crime survey, 1.6% of 16 to 59-year-olds reported using ecstasy, suggesting that around half a million had used the drug in the previous year. When the drug first hit the dance scene in the late 1980s, a pill typically cost £25, but prices have fallen to between £1 and £5. Ecstasy is a class A drug, carrying the stiffest penalties.

The drug's effects are thought to come from disruption of the regulation of serotonin, a brain chemical believed to play a role in mood and memory. It is not clear whether these effects are the result of permanent neurotoxic damage or just temporary reversible alterations.

Dr de Win's team selected 77 men and 111 women who had never used the drug before. The group's average age at the start of the study was 21. The researchers performed brain scans to measure blood flow in different parts of the brain and subjected the volunteers to various psychological tests.

Eighteen months later, the team looked at 59 of the original study group who admitted to subsequently trying the drug and 56 who had stayed off it. The users had taken a total of six pills on average. By repeating the tests, the team found subtle changes to cell architecture and decreased blood flow in some brain regions. They also found the ecstasy users performed worse than the non-users on memory tests. There was no indication that the drug affected the users' mood or had an effect on serotonin-producing neurons.

Previous research has shown that long-term or heavy ecstasy use can damage serotonin-dependent neurons and cause depression, anxiety, confusion, difficulty sleeping and decrease in memory. But this is the first study to look at the effects of low doses of the drug on first-time users.

Dr de Win presented the findings yesterday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago. The study was carried out as part of the Netherlands XTC Toxicity (NeXT) study, which also looks at high-dose ecstasy users and aims to provide information on long-term effects of ecstasy use in the general population.

There have been more than 200 reported ecstasy-related deaths in the UK over the last 15 years, with 43 in 2001 in England and Wales alone.

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