YOUNG WOMEN 'AT GREATEST RISK OF ECSTASY DEATH'

YOUNG women have a much higher risk of dying as a result of taking Ecstasy
than any other group, according to new research.

The drug is particularly toxic to women of reproductive age because high
levels of the hormone oestrogen prevent their bodies from coping with water
retention, which occurs as Ecstasy is metabolised.

The dangers are increased further if a woman taking Ecstasy drinks too much
water, or if her body temperature is raised by an activity such as
energetic dancing, researchers at King's College London, have found.

The study, which will be presented in London today at the annual meeting of
the Society of Endocrinology, may help to explain the deaths of several
young women from Ecstasy, such as Leah Betts, who died after taking the
drug on her 18th birthday in 1995.

When Ecstasy is broken down in the body, it produces a second chemical
called HMMA that stimulates the release of vasopressin, a hormone that
encourages the body to retain water.

If too much water is retained as a result, the concentration of sodium in
the body can fall to a dangerously low level, because it is diluted by the
additional fluid. Sodium is critical to the functioning of the nervous
system, and a lack of it can cause disorientation, convulsions, coma and death.

Whereas men and older women can tolerate very low levels of sodium, the
hormonal balance of young women means that they need much higher sodium
concentrations in their bloodstream, putting them at greater risk.

Dancing can also increase the danger because high body temperatures also
stimulate the release of vasopressin, causing further water retention.
Drinking a lot of water also worsens the condition.

Mary Forsling, professor of neuroendocrinology at King's College, who led
the research, said the results showed that Ecstasy was very dangerous. "The
way that young women, in particular, respond to Ecstasy places them at
risk, though these effects can apply to anyone who takes the drug.

"Ecstasy is especially dangerous because of the circumstances in which
people take it. Dancing raises the body temperature, you drink a lot, your
hormones tell your body to retain the water, you drink more. It is
something of a vicious circle."

Professor Forsling said that clubbers needed to drink plenty of water to
avoid dehydration and hyperthermia, which could also be fatal, but they
should be extemely careful if they were also taking Ecstasy.

She added that Ecstasy was also highly unpredictable because it was HMMA,
the drug's by-product, that caused the most severe reactions.

"A whole range of factors that are peculiar to every individual will govern
how much HMMA is produced as Ecstasy is metabolised, and therefore the
level of toxicity.

"You simply cannot know for certain how you are going to respond to this
drug, and if your body breaks it down in a particular way, the consequences
could be fatal."

Differing reactions to Ecstasy could explain several cases in which two or
more clubbers had taken similar amounts of the drug from similar batches,
but only one had had a serious or fatal reaction, Professor Forsling said.

An average of 11 people die in Britain each year as a result of taking
Ecstasy, according to figures published in February by the Office for
National Statistics. The figure has been falling since 1994, when it
reached a peak of 27. Ecstasy is also held responsible for many more deaths
in which it was taken with other substances such as alcohol.