WOMEN MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER BRAIN DAMAGE

London - Ecstasy, the increasingly popular party drug, may cause more
brain damage in women than in men, new research suggests.

A study published this week in The Lancet medical journal compared
brain scans of people who had taken Ecstasy in their lifetimes with
those of a group who had never taken the drug. The findings indicated
women - but not men - lost a significant number of brain cells, even
though the men had taken more Ecstasy over the years.

Studies have shown it also kills brain cells that release serotonin.
Scientists are now trying to find out how long the brain damage lasts
and its long-term consequences.