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News: December 1, 2009
Ecstasy Users at Higher Risk of Sleep Apnea
December 1, 2009The widely used club drug ecstasy appears to increase the risk of sleep apnea, say U.S. researchers.
"People who use ecstasy need to know that this drug damages the brain and can cause immediate and dangerous problems such as sleep apnea," study author Dr. Una McCann, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, said in a news release.
McCann and colleagues conducted sleep tests on 71 people who'd used ecstasy (MDMA) and 62 people who'd never used the illegal drug. Ecstasy users had a more than eight-fold increased risk of sleep apnea compared to non-users. Mild sleep apnea rates were similar in both groups (21 percent of ecstasy users and 27 percent of non-users), but only ecstasy users had moderate (13 percent) or severe (1 percent) sleep apnea.
The longer a person used ecstasy, the more sleep apnea episodes they experienced, said the researchers. They also found that ecstasy use was a greater risk factor for sleep apnea than obesity.
"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," McCann said. "Sleep apnea in itself is dangerous, but it can also contribute to thinking problems in people who use ecstasy because chronic sleep disruption is known to have a negative effect on how a person functions during the daytime."
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December 08, 2009 | Tamiflu May Be Inneffective In Fighting Effects Of FluWashington (SmartAboutHealth) - According to a new review, the popular Tamiflu is weak when it comes to the effect it has in preventing effects of the flu, such as the development of pneumonia. The new review was carried out by researchers in Great Britain, and puts into question the highly-popular flu drug. Tamiflu was the focus of this update to a review that was published ...
December 7, 2009 | Surprised? Black market steroids usually mislabeledThe risks of anabolic steroids - used by some athletes to build muscle mass - are by now well-documented. But it turns out, perhaps not surprisingly, that steroids bought illegally through "underground labs" and over the internet generally aren't what their labels say they are, researchers reported yesterday at ...
December 6, 2009 | Prostate Hormone Therapy May Up Heart RisksDiabetes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems appear to be more common in men with prostate cancer who are treated with androgen deprivation therapy, which reduces or eliminates the male sex hormones that can promote cancer growth, a new study has found. The finding indicates that androgen therapy is overused because its benefits have not been shown to outweigh its dangers in many cases, said Dr. Nancy L. Keating, associate professor of medicine and public ...
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