By 3 News online staff
Using recreational drug ecstasy can ruin both your long and short-term memory in a similar way to Alzheimer's, according to a new study.
Ecstasy, also known as 'E' or MDMA, damages the hippocampus, the area of the brain that oversees memory function and navigation.
"Hippocampal damage is one of the first signs of Alzheimer's disease, resulting in memory loss and disorientation," the study's authors wrote.
The study, published in peer-reviewed journal Addiction, showed using as little as 10 pills a year caused irreversible memory impairment, and most users wouldn't realise anything was wrong until it was too late.
"By measuring the cognitive function of people with no history of ecstasy use and, one year later, identifying those who had used ecstasy at least 10 times and remeasuring their performance, we have been able to start isolating the precise cognitive effects of this drug," says lead researcher Dr Daniel Wagner.
The study had to overcome several obstacles, including the "fact that most MDMA users also use cannabis".
"This study was designed to minimise the methodological limitations of earlier research, in which it was not possible to say whether cognitive impairments seen among ecstasy users were in place before drug use began," says Dr Wagner.
The British government's chief drugs advisor David Nutt was famously fired in 2009 for saying ecstasy use was "no more dangerous than an addiction to horse riding".
3 News