SCANS reveal that young drug users have brain damage usually seen only in the elderly
MRI brain scans of Perth amphetamine users with an average age of 27 found that 20 per cent had a brain lesion, an abnormality that increases the risk of stroke, dementia and cognitive decline in the elderly.
Study author and professor of emergency medicine Daniel Fatovich said no long-term studies had been done to see whether young drug users developed the same problems.
“Obviously, we don’t know for sure if that happens in young people because this is an evolving problem . . . but it does seem to fit with the general notion that using amphetamines not only ages you on the outside but it probably ages you on the inside as well,” he said.
“The main message is that there are serious long-term effects from using these drugs, particularly on the brain and most users will acknowledge that it is affecting their brain.”
Published in the Medical Journal of Australia, the study recruited 30 speed, ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine users who sought drug-related medical attention at Royal Perth Hospital’s emergency department in 2008 and last year.
The average age of the users when they started taking drugs was 18, and out of the 30 studied, 23 were classified as serious drug users, with the remainder deemed recreational users.
Professor Fatovich said after proving that long-term drug users had structural brain abnormalities, he wanted to see whether they had functional brain abnormalities as well.
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