Study finds IV drug use ages young brains

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Jun 21, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A British study finds young users of intravenous heroin and methadone suffer brain damage that resembles early Alzheimer's disease.

Jeanne Bell, professor of neuropathology at the University of Edinburgh, and a colleague examined the brains of 34 drug users who had died. They ranged in age from 17 to 26.

As a control, they looked at the brains of 16 young people who had not used intravenous drugs.

"Our study shows evidence of an increased risk of brain damage associated with heroin and methadone use, which may be highest in the young, when individuals are most likely to acquire the habit," Bell said.

Bell said they found increased levels of two proteins associated with brain damage. A previous study found signs of inflammation in drug abusers' brains.

The research was reported in Neuropathology & Applied Neurobiology and was funded by the Medical Research Council in Britain and the U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse.