Letters addressing the case report of a young man who was diagnosed with Parkinsons (a degenerative nerve disorder) and the doctors who wrote they believed it was caused by his previous ecstasy use, which they further extrapolated was MDMA. The patient and other authors respond to this claim.
It is important to note that use of MDMA was not confirmed in this case, as might have been done by hair analysis. Amphetamines are well known to cause dopaminergic neurotoxicity in animals and are sometimes sold as MDMA. However, amphetamines have not previously been associated with parkinsonism, despite more than 60 years of therapeutic and illicit use worldwide.
