Ecstasy is a drug that became very popular by youths in the late 1980’s. It was first discovered in the early 1900’s by a German company called Merck. However, since he (who are you referring to? who is ‘he? ‘ your previous sentence talks about a company) did not market the drug nothing came of it. Ecstasy was than rediscovered in the early 1960’s as a drug affective enhancer that could be used for patients who require therapy. Ecstasy was also tested by the US military, so it could be used as a truth drug.
Today ecstasy is used worldwide at parties and clubs by youths because it makes them dance faster and longer. All the good, bad and neutral effects that ecstasy causes can be seen on the table below. Positive Effects Neutral Effects Negative Effects Loss of appetite Muscle tension An increased willingness to communicate Eye jiggling Headaches, dizziness and loss of balance An increase in energy hallucinations Difficulty in concentrating Feelings of love and empathy Shivering Short term memory lose Urge to hug and kiss people Teeth chattering Hyperthermia.
Increased awareness of senses Increased heart rate Dehydration Feelings of comfort and closeness Changes in body temperature Seizure and epilepsy which could result in a coma Extreme mood lift Increased blood pressure Nausea and vomiting Hyponatremia Hangovers which could last for days Depression and fatigue which could last for days death Seizure The drug ecstasy has a scientific name of 3, 4 – methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA). MDMA is a phenylethylamine, characterized as both a stimulant and a hallucinogen which basically means MDMA has the structure of C8H11N.
The picture below shows the structure of MDMA and how it is made up. MDMA is a ring-substituted structure and it has methylenedioxy (-O-CH2-O-) group attached to positions 3 and 4 of the ring structure. MDMA is the scientific name for ecstasy but most drug dealers and ecstasy users have many other names for it such as adam, love drug, XTC and Calvin Klein. The drug is often classified as an entacotgen which is basically an agent that produces a “touching within” the body. This touching is exactly what ecstacy users want and it is because of this touching that makes people take and continue to take ecstasy.
These touchings are produced from the serotonin and dopamine that is released when ecstacy is taken Many people who take ecstacy belive that it is a safe drug that has very little if no side effects. This belief that some people have is wrong and they need to be educated on the dangerous toxic effects of ecstasy that can sometimes lead to death. There are four main types of toxicities that can be caused by ecstasy. These are hepatic, cardiovascular, cerebral and hyperyrexic. According to recent reports a person with hepatic toxicity would look really jaundiced. So basically their eyes would have a yellowish type color as would their skin.
Some reasons as to why they would look jaundiced is that they may have had an allergic drug reaction, or the drug that they just took may have been mixed with something else which caused a reaction. Some other effects that a person would have to go through if they had hepatic toxicity due to ecstasy is an enlarged liver, an increase bleeding tendency and a raised liver enzyme levels in the blood. In most cases it takes about a few months to recover from hepatic toxicity but someone who has been taking ecstasy will most likely get repeated attacks of hepatic toxicity.
If someone gets hepatic toxicity from taking ecstasy their chances of fully recovering are not good as their liver would have been severely damaged. In some cases people with hepatic toxicity get a liver transplant done. This may increase the chance of survival but does not guarantee it. One of the main effects of ecstasy that make it so bad for you is that it increases the net release of serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine which can ultimately lead to cardiovascular toxicity. Someone with cardiovascular toxicity would be at risk of hypertension, tachycardia and hyperthermia.
This is mainly due to the increase of noradrenaline which will make the heart beat faster and increase the blood pressure and sugar levels of a person. Some of the other effects that would occur if someone had cardiovascular toxicity is fatigue ness, a fever and hypotension. Out of all the effects listed above for cardiovascular toxicity, hyperthermia is by far the worst. Many deaths caused by ecstasy have been related to hyperthermia. The reason why hyperthermia causes a lot of deaths is because it increases the body temperature. As mentioned above, ecstasy is taken at clubs or parties where there is a lot of dancing.
Someone who has just taken ecstasy will most likely be dancing for a few hours without taking any fluids and therefore their body temperature would rise. This rise in temperature is what can eventually lead to the ecstasy users death Another toxicity that ecstasy users are faced with is cerebral toxicity. This toxicity causes hemodilution and hyponatremia. This is caused due to the long hours of dancing which results in a lot of sweating. Due to the sweating a lot of people will drink large amounts of water to try and regain some of the fluids lost. This will cause a loss of sodium which also means a lot of red blood cells will die off.
Users of ecstasy who get a cerebral toxicity will either get a epilepsy-like seizures or a fatal disruption of the respiration and circulation system. It has been reported that some ecstasy users have died after getting a seizure due to ecstasy. Hyperpyrexic toxicity has always been considered to be the most dangerous and fatal toxicity caused by ecstasy. The reason for this is that hyperpyrexic toxicity causes rhabdomyolysis, myoglobinuria, renal failure, liver damage and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. Rhabdomyolysis destroys skeletal muscle and causes excretion of myoglobin in the urine.
It makes someone’s muscles really weak and causes a lot of swelling. Even if a person were to recover from rhabdomyolysis they still would not be able to function some of their muscles 100% efficiently. Myoglobinuria and renal failure is caused when someone excreates myoglobin in the urine. Myoglobin is really toxic and when it enters the kidney it seriously damages it. In some cases the kidney gets so damaged that hemodialysis procedure must be taken in order to help make the kidney less toxic. Liver damage is caused by the high fever and the metabolic disturbances caused by taking ecstasy.
Disseminated intravascular coagulopathy is caused when a high fever is obtained by taking ecestay and causes clotting of the blood within the blood vessels. This causes problems because many blood vessels get blocked because of the clotting. Based on scientific evidence, the best way someone with hyperpyrexic toxicity can survive is if the problem is found early and if the body is cooled down with ice cold water. According to some reports the drug dantrolene can also help someone with hyperpyrexic toxicity. Ecstasy is a drug that has been around for a long time and it is popular with youngsters at dance parties and clubs .
Most users of ecstasy think it is a safe drug but they are unaware of the harmful toxic affects it can have on them. Ecstasy produces hepatic, cardiovascular, cerebral and hyperpyrexic toxicities. All four of these toxicities are extremely harmful to the body and can potentially cause death. It is vital that youths are educated about the toxic affects of ecstasy so that they can make more informed choices when they decide to take a drug and so that they understand that the choices they make can be a choice between life and death.