Ecstasy trials for combat stress

[Guest guest]

Ecstasy trials for combat stress

 

David Adam, science correspondent

Thursday February 17, 2005

The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0%2C12271%2C1416073%2C00.html

 

 

American soldiers traumatised by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be

offered the drug ecstasy to help free them of flashbacks and recurring

nightmares.

The US food and drug administration has given the go-ahead for the soldiers

to be included in an experiment to see if MDMA, the active ingredient in

ecstasy, can treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

 

 

 

Scientists behind the trial in South Carolina think the feelings of

emotional closeness reported by those taking the drug could help the

soldiers talk about their experiences to therapists. Several victims of rape

and sexual abuse with post-traumatic stress disorder, for whom existing

treatments are ineffective, have been given MDMA since the research began

last year.

 

 

 

Michael Mithoefer, the psychiatrist leading the trial, said: " It's looking

very promising. It's too early to draw any conclusions but in these

treatment-resistant people so far the results are encouraging.

 

" People are able to connect more deeply on an emotional level with the fact

they are safe now. "

 

 

 

He is about to advertise for war veterans who fought in the last five years

to join the study.

 

According to the US national centre for post-traumatic stress disorder, up

to 30% of combat veterans suffer from the condition at some point in their

lives.

 

 

 

Known as shell shock during the first world war and combat fatigue in the

second, the condition is characterised by intrusive memories, panic attacks

and the avoidance of situations which might force sufferers to relive their

wartime experiences.

 

 

 

Dr Mithoefer said the MDMA helped people discuss traumatic situations

without triggering anxiety.

 

" It appears to act as a catalyst to help people move through whatever's been

blocking their success in therapy. "

 

The existing drug-assisted therapy sessions last up to eight hours, during

music is played. The patients swallow a capsule containing a placebo or

125mg of MDMA - about the same or a little more than a typical ecstasy

tablet.

 

 

 

Psychologists assess the patients before and after the trial to judge

whether the drug has helped.

 

The study has provoked controversy, because significant doubts remain about

the long-term risks of ecstasy.

 

Animal studies suggest that it lowers levels of the brain chemical

serotonin, and some politicians and anti-drug campaigners have argued that

research into possible medical benefits of illegal drugs presents a falsely

reassuring message.

 

 

 

The South Carolina study marks a resurgence of interest in the use of

controlled psychedelic and hallucinogenic drugs. Several studies in the US

are planned or are under way to investigate whether MDMA, LSD and

psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, can treat conditions

ranging from obsessive compulsive disorder to anxiety in terminal cancer

patients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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