Silk Road forums
Discussion => Drug safety => Topic started by: microRNA on March 16, 2012, 09:01 am
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I was just doing some reading and came across a paper which indicates the potential neurotoxicity of MDMA can be reduced by THC! How awesome is that, just by using some of a natural medicine you can also help prevent damage to your brain while using ecstasy. They found it helps reduce the dopamine neuron degeneration mostly by reducing the hyperthermia caused by mdma. Even used controls of antagonists and receptor knockouts to help demonstrate it was activation of the CB1 receptor responsible for the preventative effect.
If you are interested, check it out: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0009143
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Weed the wonder drug! Goes with anything.....I love you sweet leaf. And don't forget weed helps with comedown from MDMA too.
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Sorry to bump an old thread, but I skimmed over another article which has info pertaining to THC and MDMA neurotoxicity. Very easy to understand, scientist or not!
The main psychoactive compound in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), protects against brain damage caused by methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as the drug ecstasy, according to a published study.
“In this study, we show that THC prevents MDMA neurotoxicity not only at room temperature, in which brain damage is mild, but also at warm temperature, where the neurotoxic effects of MDMA are strongly enhanced,” the authors of the report, Clara Tourino, Andreas Zimmer and Olga Valverde, said.
While ecstasy has a low risk for addiction, studies on mice and primates have found that prolonged use of the drug can produce losses of serotonin and dopamine nerve terminals. The nerve damage caused by ecstasy is associated with the increase in body temperature that it causes, a phenomenon known as hyperthermia.
“One of the most effective mechanisms to minimize MDMA neurotoxicity is to reduce hyperthermia by decreasing ambient temperature or using antithermic drugs to control body temperature,” the authors explained.
The study found that THC prevented hyperthermia in mice that were administered ecstasy. In addition, the mice that were administered both THC and MDMA suffered less nerve damage than mice who were only administered MDMA.
The striatum of mice administered both THC and ecstasy were similar to mice who had been administered a harmless saline solution. In contrast, the striatum of mice administered only MDMA showed an altered structure, suggesting dopamine nerves had been damaged.
The ability of THC to protect against nerve damage caused by ecstasy is a product of THC’s effect on cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), a neuroreceptor located in various structures of the brain, according to the study. THC’s interaction with the receptor appears to prevent the hyperthermia caused by ecstasy.
“The hypothermic effects of THC are well known, suggesting that THC might be a good candidate to prevent MDMA-induced hyperthermia and neurotoxicity,” the authors of the study said.
“Although it has been previously reported that other drugs reducing MDMA-induced hyperthermia also reduced MDMA neurotoxicity, these drugs are not used by potential MDMA users,” they added . “On the contrary, 95% of MDMA users also consume cannabis and, consequentially, THC.”
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In short: MDMA increases body temperature (hyperthermia) which in turn intensifies neurotoxicity (loss of dopamine and serotonin nerve terminals). Smoking bud helps prevent this increase in body temperature (THC interacts with a receptor in the brain) and thus decreases the amount of nerve terminals that are damaged.
I think it is also important to note that temperature is the major factor at play here. Highlighting the importance of drinking water to stay hydrated and lower core temperature while you roll.