Increase in ER Visits Due to Drug Use

Ecstasy -- also known as MDMA (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) -- is often used at all-night parties called raves. Its reputation as a "club" or party drug belies the medical and mental dangers of even casual use. Addiction, blurred vision, high blood pressure, heat stroke, muscle cramping and kidney failure are all issues that can occur in Ecstasy users, particularly those who use this drug over extended periods of time.

The United States government reports found an increase in Ecstasy-related medical emergencies between the years of 2004 and 2008. According to the report, 17, 865 patients were treated for medical emergencies related to Ecstasy in 2008 which include agitation, heart stroke and heart failure. The study which was released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) also stated that the number of reported medical emergencies was 10,220 in 2004. According to SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, the amount of Ecstasy that is currently being used is alarming and immediate attention must be directed towards this issue. 

According to Dr. Lewis Goldfrank, chairman of emergency medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, the use of amphetamines is a significant problem for young adults with a high mortality rate associated with it, mostly due to multiple drug use. A wide percentage of users in 2008 had reportedly mixed the Ecstasy drug with other drugs or alcohol, increasing the harmful effects to a great degree. Researchers found that Cocaine use with Ecstasy is more likely among people twenty one and older. The use of Ecstasy also causes problems in the emergency room where drugs are often used in combination with other drugs. 

SAMHSA is putting aggressive prevention efforts into place in hopes to reduce the use of Ecstasy throughout the nation. This should result in fewer visits to the emergency room for drug related medical issues. 

If you or someone you know is struggling with drug addiction, get help. Cove Center for Recovery is a nationally recognized drug treatment center providing addiction treatment programs, addiction treatment prevention as well as aftercare services. The "Real Life Program" is a combination of our clinical, residential and activities program. Daily life challenges encountered during activities and residential life are processed in our therapeutic setting, allowing each individual the opportunity to apply skills and experience growth in the journey of recovery. Read more on Residential Addiction Treatment Programs.

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“Real World” Ecstasy Use

In order to understand the effects of the ecstasy pill, Australian researchers studied people who were using this drug at parties and soon came to realize that because the ecstasy pill contains other drugs as well, the brains of ecstasy users are more at risk than suspected.

Dr. Thomas Newton, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine, was not involved in the research but revealed his concern that most studies focused on toxicity only look into a single drug, "We have no idea what happens when you start mixing like this," he says, users are more at risk because of the mixture of harmful ingredients that make up a single ecstasy pill.”

Fifty six people who had taken ecstasy in the past let researchers join parties where they would take the drug again. The researchers took samples of the pills as well as measurements of MDMA (the chemical in ecstasy) from the users’ blood, paying each one 200 dollars at the end of the research. The amount of MDMA reached devastatingly high in some participants but researchers noticed that some pills had no MDMA at all. Most contained methamphetamine or chemicals related to MDMA. "This highlights a significant public health concern, particularly regarding the existence of pills containing more than 200 milligrams of MDMA," the authors write in their report of the study, which is published in the journal “Addiction”.

This research, which was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, took place to capture a realistic view of ecstasy users. According to Dr. Rod Irvine, the lead author of the study, collecting data at parties is more effective than in a lab setting due to ethical restrictions that prevent researchers from testing high doses in people. In fact, the amounts they experiment with, reportedly did not reflect the range used naturally.  Most participants took more than one pill, sometimes as many as five in the course of the night. Irvine states that taking multiple pills is likely to lead to very high blood concentration, which may be harmful and possibly fatal.

Seven out of every 100 twelfth-graders say they have tried ecstasy.  According to the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, ecstasy can interfere with heart rate and temperature regulation in addition to causing brain damage. No one in this study, however, suffered immediate health problems from using ecstasy.

If you or someone you know is struggling with drug addiction, get help. Cove Center for Recovery is a nationally recognized drug treatment center providing addiction treatment programs, addiction treatment prevention as well as aftercare services. The "Real Life Program" is a combination of our clinical, residential and activities program. Daily life challenges encountered during activities and residential life are processed in our therapeutic setting, allowing each individual the opportunity to apply skills and experience growth in the journey of recovery. Read more on Residential Addiction Treatment Programs.

Reach out to us. Recovery from addiction is just a click or a phone call away.

Addiction Treatment for adults and young adults: 1-888-387-6237 http://www.covecenterforrecovery.com

Addiction Treatment for Teens: 1-888-757-6237
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