ECSTASY can seriously run down the brain鈥檚 supply of serotonin, a
neurotransmitter linked to mood swings, say Canadian doctors. Stephen Kish of
the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto studied the brain of a
dead 26-year-old chronic ecstasy user. The man had been taking ecstasy for
around nine years, at first about once a month, then in more frequent binges.
Ecstasy is thought to produce euphoria by releasing a rush of serotonin, but the
brain has trouble replenishing the supply, says Kish.
He found that serotonin levels in the ecstasy user鈥檚 brain were up to 80 per
cent lower than in healthy brains (Neurology, vol 55, p 294). A link
between ecstasy and low levels of serotonin has been found in animals, but this
is the first time it has been shown in humans.