A new study suggests that the recreational users of the drug ecstasy may be putting themselves at risk of sleep apnea.

Ecstasy also has been attached to cognitive problems lead by study author Una McCann of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Sleep apnea afflicts an estimated 15 million Americans is a common disorder that causes obstacles in breathing during sleep.

McCann and colleagues’ study is published in the online issue of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Mccann said, “People who use ecstasy need to know that this drug damages the brain and can cause immediate and dangerous problems such as sleep apnea, sleep apnea in itself is dangerous, but it can also contribute to thinking problems in people who use ecstasy because chronic sleep disruption is known to have a negative effect on how a person functions during the daytime.”

Serotonin is a chemical that helps relay signals from one cell to another, is involved in a variety of psychological and other body functions.