SPEED ABUSERS END UP WITH BRAIN DAMAGE

NEW YORK, Mar 27 (Reuters Health) -- Even after they quit, methamphetamine
users show signs of brain damage that suggest the drug may have long-term
health consequences, researchers report. Methamphetamine is a commonly
abused drug also known as speed, crank, crystal or ice.

"We found abnormal brain chemistry in the methamphetamine users in all three
brain regions we studied," explained study co-author Dr. Linda Chang of
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. "In one of the regions,
the amount of damage is also related to the history of drug use -- those who
had used the most methamphetamine had the strongest indications of cell
damage."

The findings are published in the March 28th issue of the journal Neurology.

Researchers led by Dr. Thomas Ernst conducted brain scans of 26 men and
women with a history of methamphetamine dependence and compared the scans
with those from 24 people with no drug abuse history. The former drug users
showed reductions in certain chemicals across various areas of the brain.

Taken orally, smoked or injected, methamphetamines cause brain cells to
release high amounts of the chemical dopamine, and past studies in animals
and humans have suggested that the drug "may cause long-lasting injury to
the brain," the authors write.

Ernst and his colleagues found that a chemical known as N-acetylaspartate,
or NA, was 5% to 6% lower in two brain regions of the drug users compared
with their drug-free counterparts. Reduction in this chemical, they report,
indicates a loss of mature nerve cells in the brain.

The heaviest methamphetamine users showed the lowest NA concentrations in
the brain's frontal white matter. In a statement from the National Institute
on Drug Abuse, Ernst explained that "many diseases
associated with brain cell loss or damage, such as Alzheimer's disease,
stroke, and epilepsy, are also associated with reduced N-acetyl-aspartate."

In addition, the former drug users had elevated levels of two chemicals that
reflect the brain's reaction to injury. Taken together, Ernst's team
reports, these altered chemical concentrations suggest brain damage, but it
is not clear if the changes are permanent.

Further studies are needed to determine whether treatment or long periods of
abstinence from drugs can reverse the damage, the authors suggest.

According to a 1996 federal study, almost 5 million Americans reported using
methamphetamines at some time in their lives. At the same time, Ernst and
colleagues write, a network covering more than 500 US hospitals reported a
sixfold jump in methamphetamine-related emergencies over the past decade.