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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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November 23, 2009 | Genetic Variant Slows AIDS ProgressionScientists report that a genetic variation appears to play a major role in slowing disease progression in HIV-infected patients. In fact, those with the variation appear to take years longer to develop AIDS and die of complications of the disease. "We're honing in on factors that vary across individuals that make a person more or less susceptible to HIV, in terms of how rapidly someone develops the ...
November 22, 2009 | FDA To Reduce the Misuse of MedicationsThe FDA wants to reduce the misuse of medications, saying that at least 50,000 hospitalizations a year could be prevented if physicians, pharmacists, patients and parents would be more careful. And the cost of these preventable injuries is estimated at about $4 billion annually by the Institute of Medicine. FDA commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg stated, "when I first started looking at this, I was stunned at ...
November 21, 2009 | Diabetes Drug Byetta Linked to Kidney ProblemsThe FDA has received 78 reports of kidney problems related to Byetta, a drug by Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli-Lilly prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes. With the new findings, the drug's label will be updated to warn doctors and patients about this possible side effect. Byetta (exenatide) was approved in 2005. It's known as an incretin mimetic, which copies the action of incretin GLP-1, a hormone that is released in response to ...
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