Ecstasy In The Service Of Medicine

Ecstasy In The Service Of Medicine.
The recreational dose known as heaven on earth may have a medicinal role to play in helping people who have trouble connecting to others socially, budding research suggests. In a study involving a small group of fit people, investigators found that the drug - also known as MDMA - prompted heightened feelings of friendliness, playfulness and love, and induced a lowering of the minder that might have therapeutic uses for improving venereal interactions. Yet the closeness it sparks might not be result in deep and lasting connections.

The findings "suggest that MDMA enhances sociability, but does not irresistibly increase empathy," noted study author Gillinder Bedi, an subsidiary professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University and a research scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City. The study, funded by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse and conducted at the Human Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory at the University of Chicago, was published in the Dec 15 2010 proclamation of Biological Psychiatry.

In July, another burn the midnight oil reported that MDMA might be worthwhile in treating post-traumatic pain disorder (PTSD), based on the drug's appearing boosting of the ability to cope with grief by helping to control fears without numbing mobile vulgus emotionally. MDMA is part of a family of so-called "club drugs," which are popular with some teens and junior at all night dances or "raves".

These drugs, which are often used in combination with alcohol, have potentially life-threatening effects, according to the US National Institute on Drug Abuse. The newest mull over explored the clobber of MDMA on 21 healthy volunteers, nine women and 12 men old 18 to 38. All said they had taken MDMA for recreational purposes at least twice in their lives.

They were randomly assigned to inherit either a low or moderate dose of MDMA, methamphetamine or a sugar crank during four sessions in about a three-week period. Each session lasted at least 4,5 hours, or until all possessions of the drug had worn off. During that time, participants stayed in a laboratory testing room, and collective interaction was limited to contact with a research assistant who helped supply cognitive exams.