Ecstasy doesn’t sound like something you do in a doctor’s office. But the Food and Drug Administration wants that to change.
The FDA just approved the substance, more clinically known as MDMA, as a ‘breakthrough’ drug—and will work to move it through clinical trials as efficiently as possible.The FDA only grants breakthrough status when a medication (for a serious disease) is likely to offer significantly better results than currently available treatments. It may seem wild that the same drug that EDM lovers take at raves is going to help soldiers recover from war-related trauma. But if you know how MDMA works, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Ecstasy makes you feel great, and that’s why it’s such an effective therapy
Once MDMA gets into the bloodstream, it prompts a massive release of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. The collective efforts of all three neurotransmitters make the user feel euphoric, giving them a heightened sense of empathy and of physical sensations. A loved one’s touch suddenly feels like it transmits their love directly through your skin. Rhythmic beats and aesthetically pleasing sights become completely enthralling. That’s why people take it at raves—it amplifies all the positive sensations they feel when they listen to music and dance.
That’s the same reason that it works so well for PTSD patients.
On MDMA, the user’s brain is flooded with all the neurotransmitters that make them feel good, and that can make it a lot easier to recall painful memories. Biologically speaking, every time you engage a memory, you’re re-experiencing it. The set of neurons that encodes that memory are all firing the same…The post FDA Says MDMA is Breakthrough Cure for PTSD After Shocking Success of Clinical Trials appeared first on FeedBox.