Meth abuse increases risk of Parkinson's disease

PEOPLE hospitalised for abusing methamphetamines such as speed and ice have a 76 per cent increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease compared with the general population, new research shows.

The link has previously been suspected because Parkinson's disease is caused by a deficiency in the brain's ability to produce the chemical dopamine.

Methamphetamines boost levels of dopamine, resulting in feelings of euphoria, but have been shown in animal studies to damage the cells that produce it. Canadian researchers established the link in humans after studying the records of 300,000 patients over a 16-year period in California, an area with a high rate of methamphetamine use.
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They quantified the increased risk of Parkinson's disease after comparing patients hospitalised for methamphetamine-related conditions to those treated for cocaine abuse and appendicitis, in a study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

About 80,000 Australians have Parkinson's disease, a progressively degenerative neurological disorder which affects the control of body movements.

Lead researcher Russell Callaghan, of Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, said the study was one of the few to examine the long-term association between methamphetamine use and the development of a major brain disorder. ''Given that methamphetamines … are the second most widely used illicit drugs in the world, the current study will help us anticipate the full long-term consequences of [their] use,'' he said.

Federal government figures released yesterday show that 7 per cent of Australians had used methamphetamines in their lifetime, and two per cent had used them in the last year.

Director of Melbourne's Turning Point Drug and Alcohol Centre, Dan Lubman, said the study added to overwhelming evidence that regular methamphetamine use was associated with a range of harms, particularly psychosis. ''This furthers our understanding of the connection between how drugs affect the brain,'' he said.

source: theage