Ecstasy use found to cause sleep disorder

Published on Wednesday 2 December 2009 21:51

TAKING Ecstasy can interfere with breathing and raise the risk of a potentially dangerous sleep disorder, research has shown.

Scientists found that previously healthy users of the dance drug were significantly more likely to develop sleep apnoea than non-drug users.

The common snoring condition causes breaks in breathing during sleep. It is linked to heart attacks, strokes and diabetes, as well as mental impairment.

Researchers studied 71 volunteers who admitted having taken ecstasy 25 times or more, and 62 individuals who had used other drugs but not Ecstasy.

Participants were linked to a machine that measured their breathing and nasal pressure while they were asleep.

The two groups had similar rates of mild sleep apnoea, with the condition affecting 21 per cent of Ecstasy users and 27 per cent of non-users. But only Ecstasy users suffered from moderate or severe sleep apnoea. Eight moderate cases (13 per cent of the total) were recorded and one severe case.

The study, published in the journal Neurology, also found that the longer people had taken Ecstasy, the more severe their sleep apnoea was.

Taking Ecstasy was more strongly associated with sleep apnoea than obesity, a recognised risk factor for the condition.

Dr Una McCann, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore in the United States, who led the study, said: "People who use Ecstasy need to know that this drug damages the brain and can cause immediate and dangerous problems, such as sleep apnoea.

"Sleep apnoea in itself is dangerous, but it can also contribute to thinking problems in people who use Ecstasy, because chronic sleep disruption is known to have a negative effect on how a person functions during the daytime."