MDMA related deaths are rare, most being attributed to heatstroke. The drug is currently under study. After people have taken ecstasy, their blood contains unusually high concentrations of vasopressin. As levels of this hormone increase, the body retains more water diluting the sodium and other salts in the blood. This can swell the brain causing damage to the brain and nerve tissue.
Ecstasy causes long-lasting damage to brain areas that are critical for thought and memory.
The proportion of eighth graders reporting any use of Ecstasy in the prior 12 months rose from 1.7 percent in 1999 to 3.1 percent in 2000. Among 10th-graders, the use of Ecstasy rose from 4.4 percent to 5.4 percent, and among 12th graders from 5.6 percent to 8.2 percent. Ecstasy then, would be used by more American teen-agers today than is Cocaine.