Ecstasy Study Gives Hope to PTSD Sufferers

By: David Binning

Lifescientist

Originally Appeared At:
http://www.lifescientist.com.au/article/353831/ecstasy_study_gives_hope_ptsd_sufferers/

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US researchers have published the results of the first ever clinical trial

examining the effectiveness of MDMA in treating sufferers of post

traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MDMA is the key ingredient in the

illegal drug ecstasy.

Researchers at the Mount Pleasant Private Practise of Psychiatry and

Clinical Research, University of South Carolina and the Santa Cruz

Multi-disciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies studied 20 patients

with chronic PSTD who had been unresponsive both to psychotherapy and

psychopharmacology.

Subjects were divided into two groups, with one receiving concomitant

active drug (n ¼ 12) and the other inactive placebo (n ¼ 8) administered

during two eight hour experimental psychotherapy sessions. The results,

published this week in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, showed a marked

improvement in symptoms for sufferers administered MDMA compared to the

placebo groups at each of the three measurement phases. Researchers

reported that the rate of clinical response was 10/12 (83 percent) in the

active treatment group versus 2/8 (25 percent) in the placebo group.

The study also showed that there were no adverse events related to the

drug with no adverse neurocognitive effects or significant increases in

blood pressure. The researchers noted that one of the key benefits of MDMA

in the treatment of PTSD appears to be its suppression of the fear

response.

PTSD is a growing health problem, especially in those countries engaged in

conflict. It is estimated that close to 20 percent of American servicemen

and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will present with the

disorder which would translate into over 200,000 cases at current numbers.

The only two drugs currently approved by the FDA to treat PTSD are

sertraline and paroxetine, both selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

(SSRIs). However, nine separate studies of SSRIs for PTSD conducted

between 1994 and 2007 showed that these types of drugs have only a limited

impact on the disorder. Further, a 2008 study by the US Institute of

Medicine looked at 22 different drugs across seven different drug

categories yet remained inconclusive with regard to their value to PTSD

sufferers. Subsequent research has, however, provided more positive data.

In terms of purely cognitive approaches there has been very little in the

way of success.

Case reports note that MDMA had been used by American psychiatrists to

assist with psychotherapy before the drug was criminalised in 1985. The

results of the study published week are expected to strengthen the case

for its legal use in the treatment of PTSD and possibly other psychiatric

conditions.

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