Currently viewing the category: "Provigil"

If It Seems Too Good To Be True

By On · Add Comment · In dopamine, drug, Modafinil, Provigil, side effects, sleep, smart drugs, stimulants
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a drug that could decrease the need for sleep, allow more time to work and study, and essentially make you smarter…without side effects? Well, if you remember my post on the subject last year, you’ll recall that that drug doesn’t exist. Oh, there are plenty of drugs that’ll keep you up and allow you to study harder–in the short term; but the one without side effects–dream on.

According to a recent study, the popular prescription stimulant, Provigil, has a higher risk of addiction than previously thought. Brain scans taken of people on the drug showed changes in the brain’s pleasure centers, which were similar to those occurring with the more frowned upon stimulants coke and meth. The study which is due for publication in this month’s Journal of the American Medical Association may break the myth that Provigil is safe for healthy people.

Provigil, or Modafinil, is known as a “smart drug” for its ability to keep people up for hours, thus making it popular with students and other academia (professors) in search of unlimited knowledge. Modafinil, however, is approved as a narcolepsy drug–that is, to fight off the daytime sleepiness associated with this disorder and obstructive sleep apnea. But why worry about that detail? Speed is speed is speed.

The “controversy” over smart drugs was brought to light last year when several scientists commented in the journal Nature that people should have the right to boost their brain power through the use of drugs like Provigil. At the time of that editorial it was thought that Provigil provided stimulation without side effects. This new study is the first evidence that Modafinil increases dopamine release–the “feel good” neurotransmitter implicated in most forms of addiction.

Well, as I’ve said time and time again, there’s no free lunch. You want to play you gotta pay. You can gain knowledge and be productive through hard work and study. But there’s simply no substitute for sleep. Sorry.

Academia on Speed

By On · Add Comment · In addiction, brain, brain-boosting, drugs, Provigil, Ritalin, speed, stimulants

Who are the biggest up-and-coming speed freaks of the 21st century? Academics!

Yes, our nation’s literati are doing legal speed to boost brain power. Or so they say. According to a recent report, the production and supply of “brain-boosting” stimulants like Ritalin or Provigil has increased 300% between 1995-2006. But not all people use these easy to get drugs for intellectual prowess. Some, no doubt, use it simply to get high.

This latest drug abuse trend has some in health care worried–and rightly so. When altered states of consciousness become tolerated, even desired, in our institutions of higher learning, there is cause for concern. Primarily because most controlled substances have the potential for abuse and a high risk of addiction–the last thing we need in our universities, seeing how much power academia yields in politics and public opinion.

The concern has been sparked by a recent commentary in the journal Nature on Sunday that argues for use of the drugs in healthy adults as a legitimate way of improving brain power, much like education, the Internet or other helpful tools. Doesn’t this echo Timothy Leary’s turn on, tune in, and drop out ethos of the 1960s? Damn if things don’t come back full circle. The problem is that these pharmaceuticals have a much higher probability of leading to dependence than Leary’s LSD. And as you know if you’ve ever been dependent, drugs have a way of running one’s life.

So, increased brain power or not, I wouldn’t recommend playing this dope game. But if you must, just remember…I told you so.

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