UK News 27-09-2002 Ecstasy "Timebomb" May Cause Parkinson`s who: Drugs researcher George Ricaurte what: Says ecstasy use can bring on Parkinson`s-type symptoms in later life where: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD when: Yesterday snippet: Taking the drug ecstasy several times in one night "may be enough eventually to cause slowed movement, stiffness and tremor similar to the symptoms of Parkinson`s disease," reports The Telegraph as findings from an American study into the effects of `E` on animals are published today. "Just two to three Ecstasy tablets -a quantity that thousands of clubbers take during raves - can permanently destroy brain cells that affect movement and reasoning," adds The Times` science correspondent Mark Henderson, before claiming emotively that "the finding creates the nightmare vision of a neurological timebomb for a generation of clubbers, who will not know until middle age whether they are to pay such a high price for one evening`s excitement." The Sun - which also can`t resist using the term "timebomb" - quotes Janet Betts, the mother of tragic ecstasy victim Leah Betts. "This comes as no surprise," she said. "People can`t see the effects at first and they`re in permanent denial, saying it`s not going to happen to them." At King`s College, Parkinson`s specialist Dr K. Ray Chaudhuri is slightly more circumspect, telling The Times that "an increase in Ecstasy`s popularity over the past ten to 15 years correlates with an increase in the number of young people developing Parkinson`s. However, we don`t know if the two facts are linked or if awareness has improved and more diagnoses are being made." [... more]

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