Posted on 12/28/2007 6:51:24 AM PST by BGHater
Academics, musicians, even poker champs use pills to sharpen their minds, legally. Labs race to develop even more.
Forget sports doping. The next frontier is brain doping.
As Major League Baseball struggles to rid itself of performance-enhancing drugs, people in a range of other fields are reaching for a variety of prescription pills to enhance what counts most in modern life.
Despite the potential side effects, academics, classical musicians, corporate executives, students and even professional poker players have embraced the drugs to clarify their minds, improve their concentration or control their emotions.
"There isn't any question about it -- they made me a much better player," said Paul Phillips, 35, who credited the attention deficit drug Adderall and the narcolepsy pill Provigil with helping him earn more than $2.3 million as a poker player.
The medicine cabinet of so-called cognitive enhancers also includes Ritalin, commonly given to schoolchildren for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and beta blockers, such as the heart drug Inderal. Researchers have been investigating the drug Aricept, which is normally used to slow the decline of Alzheimer's patients.
The drugs haven't been tested extensively in healthy people, but their physiological effects in the brain are well understood.
They are all just precursors to the blockbuster drug that labs are racing to develop.
"Whatever company comes out with the first memory pill is going to put Viagra to shame," said University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Paul Root Wolpe.
Unlike the anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and blood-oxygen boosters that plague athletic competitions, the brain drugs haven't provoked similar outrage. People who take them say the drugs aren't giving them an unfair advantage but merely allow them to make the most of their hard-earned skills.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Nothing really new. When I was in college some 50 years ago, the appetite suppressant Dexadrene (spelling?) was extremely popular during exam week. I believe it's another variety of methamphetamine.
> Churchill used Claret. <
Not only that:
He also used cigars!
(Not sure if he inhaled, but wouldn’t be surprised to learn he did!)
Women remember everything you ever did wrong just fine, no matter how small the incident.
Using speed to stay alert? Shocking!
Doesn’t nicotine also fall into this category? The combustion byproduct delivery method is a dismal failure but I wonder if there is a politically incorrect upside to the drug.
I used to use 120 mg of Sudafed when I was cramming for finals in college, many many years ago. Made me brilliant—but later I didn’t remember a thing I’d studied.
Nicotine helps to block outside stimuli like noise, thus increasing focus.
After I got home I checked the bottle of Ginko. They were 30mg pills, not the 10mg I had taken them to be. I took a triple dose which amounted to an overdose for me.
There’s little evidence to suggest that Ritalin carries any more potential for harmful side effects than caffeine. An excess of either one can be dangerous, though caffeine seems to be more prone to causing emergency room visits and hospitalizations, probably just because people perceive it to be “safe” and don’t exercise caution in the amount they use. Not that it’s really possible to measure caffeine intake, since few if any of the caffeinated beverages on the market indicate how much caffeine they contain, even though some are loaded with really dangerous amounts. At least Ritalin and Adderall are sold in tablets containing precisely labelled and disclosed amounts.
bmflr
.
.
.
.
According to Intrade, the winner of the December 12th GOP debate was... Duncan Hunter.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1938773/posts
Why the smart money is on Duncan Hunter
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926032/posts
In this poll Hunter is up 3% and even with Paul and Thompson.
http://www.wxyz.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=3481ef60-8195-46a9-af04-b87b907bcfdd
Energy Drinks’ Caffeine Buzz Can Land the Unwary in the ER
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/833954/energy_drinks_caffeine_buzz_can_land_the_unwary_in_the/index.html?source=r_health
So do foam rubber ear plugs.
Yes, I wear those occaisionally in the office; it helps to cut down on my smoking.
Diapid had the unfortunate side effect of sometimes causing cardiac arrest in young, healthy people. The safe smart drugs are hydergine, centrophenoxine, ginkgo, vinpocetine, and memantine. See Dr. Ward Dean’s book “Mind Food and Smart Pills”. Hydergine has a side effect; it made the lab rats live longer than the control group!
Thanks!
Putting the used cigarette filters in your ears works better.
:-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.