The dangers associated with the use of Ecstasy, the popular club drug, are also not unknown. But recently a study conducted by Dr.Una McCann and colleagues of John Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore revealed a disheartening fact. The US researchers found that the widely used club drug actually increases the risks of sleep apnea– a breathing problem characterized by stopping of breath and gasping for air in deep sleep.
In sleep apnea the muscle tone in the throat becomes excessively relaxed resulting in blockage of the airway. The person struggles to breathe and this happens several times during his period of sleep often leaving 10 seconds or more within breaths. The sleeper actually fails to notice this until the next day when he might experience daytime drowsiness, headaches, irritability – all of which result from sleep apnea. Apnea might also lead to driving accidents, cognitive problems, stroke and heart disease.
The researchers monitored the sleep of 71 ecstasy users who had used it at least for 30 times but had not used it or any other illicit drugs within the previous fifteen days. 62 people who never used ecstasy served as the control group. The age of the volunteers ranged from 18 to 46 years with an average age of 24 years. None of them reported of having any sleep disturbances in the past.
Based on the number of breath stoppages per hour, the researchers rated sleep apnea as mild, moderate and severe. One of the ecstasy users had severe apnea while 8 had moderate apnea. The mild rate was more or less same within the two groups (27% between non-users and 21% within users). Longer the period of use greater the number of sleep apnea episodes.
Dr. McCarn said, “Our findings may be explained by how ecstasy damages neurons related to serotonin, a chemical in the brain that is involved in sleep regulation and breathing, among other important functions.”
Tags: drug abuse, drug free home, ecstasy, John Hopkins School of Medicine, moderate apnea, Sleep apnea
