ECSTASY AS A BRAIN BOOSTER FOR PARKINSON'S?

It could be a rave result for people with Parkinson's.
It seems that ecstasy boosts the number of dopamine-producing
cells in the brain - the type that decline in those with the disease.
Or so rat studies suggest. Previous human studies
have suggested that ecstasy is bad for the brain because it damages
serotonin signalling neurons, which play a role in memory. When Jack
Lipton of the University of Cincinnati and his colleagues gave
pregnant rats the drug they found no signs of damage in newborn pups.

Instead, they saw a threefold rise in the number of dopamine producing
cells. These cells were also more highly branched and developed than
normal, suggesting they functioned better.

Similarly, when cultured embryonic dopamine cells were exposed to
ecstasy, roughly three times as many cells survived. The effect didn't
vary much with increasing concentration, although particularly high
doses did kill the brain cells.

Lipton believes that ecstasy prevents the programmed cell death that
normally occurs when neurons are stressed, as happens in certain
degenerative diseases including Parkinson's, and in cell cultures.

Lipton suggests that some promising new ecstasy-like drugs might one
day be used to boost dopamine-producing cells in people with
Parkinson's - without damaging other neurons in the brain. The work
was presented at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Atlanta,
Georgia, last week.