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> Subject: Re: Ecstasy for Parkinsons? > From: Jemima Harrison <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 12:04:49 +0100 Hi Ron I made a film on this subject for a BBC science programme transmitted in the UK in February - and which has since been shown in Australia and elsewhere but not the US. Time Magazine (Europe) ran a tie-in article (Feb 19) which you should be able to find at www.timeeurope.com - called "Ecstasy's Dividend". Our film featured Tim, a 39-yr-old stuntman with PD who had discovered that Ecstasy helped his dyskinesias. There was a secondary anti-PD effect (but not a huge one - on its own the drug does not give him as much mobility as sinemet), plus it seemed to extend his sinemet on-time. As far as I was aware, Tim is the only person - worldwide - who has come out and admitted Ecstasy helped him, so I am interested to hear of your friend - as would the scientists now furthering research in this area - a top team at Manchester University in the UK. (Who are working to develop a drug which is as good but without MDMA's toxicity.) They are having some success. Interesting, during the course of researching the film, I met a university lecturer who had tremor (mild and not PD) who said Ecstasy smoothed him out. But, as I and everyone else will say, taking Ecstasy is not recommended. Ecstasy - or MDMA - works primarily via serotonin not dopamine, although there is evidence that the drug could further damage dopamine neurons (and hence hasted PD progress) which your friend should be aware of (as well, of course, as the problems in getting a pure supply). The "high" from Ecstasy is linked to the massive release of serotonin it provokes, not dopamine. It might be that your friend no longer gets a high because of depleted serotonin rather than dopamine - either because he takes it too often or because he has low serotonin levels (a PD feature). Please feel free to contact me direct if you'd like to talk further. Finally - please don't be tempted to take MDMA yourself - it's dangerous - and wait for the scientists to come up with something safer. Jemima > From: "Peyton, Ronald" <[log in to unmask]> > Reply-To: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network > <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 16:40:04 -0500 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Ecstasy for Parkinsons? > > Is anyone aware of any studies done on claimed benefits of ecstasy for > parkinsons? I have an acquaintance whose pd tremors are worse than mine, > and he claims while under ecstasy's influence, his tremors cease. He does > not take ecstasy for the "high" as he is no longer to obtain a high from the > drug due to the lack of dopamine receptors he has thanks to pd. He does > ecstasy when he is in a social environment and wants his tremors under > control and claims it works better than any of the other drugs he takes > (primarily sinemet). Does anyone know of anything credible along this line > other than just individual claims? Thanks. > Ron > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn