Posted on 03/22/2017 2:13:22 PM PDT by Red Badger
Photo of MDMA courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
Researchers in New Zealand have started trials to see whether MDMA can treat tinnitus, a condition that causes people to hear irritating sound no one else can hear. The undertaking has taken place over the last two years, and involved a small number of participants who were given a very low dose of MDMA or a placebo and monitored over a four-hour period, reports Stuff.
Many of the participants who took the MDMA reported a partial alleviation of tinnitus after three hours, but there was also a large placebo effect among the participants. The researchers administered doses of 30 mg or 70 mg of the drug over two separate trials, which are both doses lower than needed to induce feelings of euphoria.
"Our goal is to try and find a medication for tinnitus. It can have catastrophic effects," University of Auckland professor Grant Searchfield said. "Whether MDMA is it or whether it's a trial for us to identify what is going on in the brain is still an open question."
50 million people currently suffer from tinnitus in the United States, and there is no definitive cure for most causes of the condition. There are tools and treatments to help patients manage their tinnitus though, by reducing its emotional, cognitive, and attention-related impact.
Currently, the researchers are analyzing brain imaging from the trials in order to determine how they should proceed. It would be necessary for them to secure more funding in order to proceed.
The endeavor is a joint study between the University of Auckland and the University of Otago, and the researchers said they were motivated to begin the study by independent reports from people saying that MDMA helped their tinnitus.
In the past several years, studies have found that taking MDMA or ecstasy directly increases your stress levels, and that MDMA is more dangerous for women than for men. Clinical trials in 2013 showed that there is a potential for MDMA to treat PTSD, and Stanford Scientists called for an in-depth exploration of its effects last year.
Tinnitus Ring List!.................
I never knew I had tinnitus until they started talking about it on TV. I thought it was just normal. Most of the time I don’t even notice it but when it is really quiet, it seems loud in my head.
I have tinnitus and there are times when it does go away. However most of the time my “brain” has learned to ignore it.
I hear crickets 24/7/365 for decades..................
The upper end of 30mg to 70mg does not seem like a moderate dose, as the average dose taken now is 60mg to 120mg.
The article is remiss in not stating off the bat that “MDMA” is known in the recreational drug scene as “Ecstasy”, the side effects of which are not to be “entertained” for medicinal purposes. I would hold out for something else.
MDMA
Isn’t that ecstasy?
Yes................
I think the writer knows that his ‘audience’ already knows................
Same here......just like that loud background traffic noise from a mile away that you automatically filter out until you wake up in the morning listening to the noises outside......
Yes...but you'd have to get to the end of the article to find that out. What great writing. Sheesh.
ML/NJ
The scientific medical abbreviation for the street drug called ‘Ecstasy’...................
I assumed everyone had ringing in their ears. I had always had it, as far as I knew, so thought it was natural. The only thing I know that effects it is weed, but weed makes it worse, not better.
Would someone please answer the doorbell? g
Remember the high pitched whine CRT TVs used to have? Esp color TVs?
That’s what I hear 24/7/365.
Give em a higher dose and the tinnitus may persist, but they just won’t care either way :)
Mine is so loud that it’s louder than people speak. Took a hearing test but the whine and clicks and clacks, pinging, etc, was louder that the tones in the machine. I didn’t hear any of the tones. Nurse giving the test asked me if I was reading her lips!
I’d try this treatment. Going to an ENT who specializes in tinnitus next month.
Will we have to go to Steel Guitar raves?
Who cares about that ringing in my ears, let’s make love and eat rainbows!
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