Summer is here which means it is festival season for nearly every popular genre of music that exists. Frequently found on music festival grounds is the drug ecstasy, or MDMA. Psychological and physical effects of the drug are said to enhance the experience of music while providing light hallucinations and a particular feeling of unconditional love for absolutely everyone. The risks of MDMA are also great, especially given the environmental conditions of summer music festival: hot, sweaty, and often, dehydration.
Hyperthermia is one of the most common causes of sickness, injury, hospitalization, or death due to the consumption of MDMA. Especially at music festivals during the summer, everyone is hot. Outside temperatures are hot, crowds of people dancing are warm, and MDMA heats up the body. In extreme cases, the body temperature rises dangerously high like an abnormal heatstroke. Stimulated by the drug, people don’t pay attention to their hydration levels. Without fluids or electrolytes to support all the sweat and movement, the body depletes quickly. Hyperthermia can cause critical organs to go into failure, including the liver, kidney, and heart.
Aware of the risks of dehydration, some MDMA users might compensate by heavily hydrating. Too much hydration under the influence of MDMA causes hyponatremia. Rather than allow sodium and other electrolytes to flow naturally, hyponatremia dilutes minerals in the blood to a dangerous level, causing the body to weaken and shut down.
An overdose on MDMA that is strictly due to the presence of MDMA in the bloodstream is exceptionally rare. Fatalities can and do occur for people using MDMA, but the drug itself is rarely the lone cause. MDMA is meant to be more pure than ecstasy though the two names are used interchangeably. Problematically, it is difficult to know precisely where the drug is coming from, who made it, and what was used to make it. MDMA can be cut with cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, amphetamines, and an array of other chemicals, including antidepressants. In addition to hyperthermia or hypnoatremia, as well as any preexisting health conditions or environmental circumstances, death is possible.
Dizziness, faintness, and a “bad trip” can all be par for the course with MDMA. It is not uncommon for people to pass out, black out, or suffer a seizure. Seizures under the influence of MDMA can be life altering. Some cases have resulted in physical disfigurations, nervous system damage and considerable brain damage which impairs basic executive functions like walking and talking.
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