A study published late August confirms the positive effects of a drug long suspected of increasing brain capacity. Originally designed to combat chronic fatigue, its use for doping by students and hackers heralds new ethical debates about the increase of human beings.
What if it was enough to take a pill, like Bradley Cooper in the movie Limitless, to suddenly become smarter? This scenario may soon become more fiction. A study published in late August in the journal European Neuropsycho pharmacology confirms what many bio hackers already suspected.
Armodafinil, a drug designed to keep people with narcolepsy or chronic fatigue awake, turns out to be an intellectual drug (“smart drug”). Its consumption increases attention, improves the ability to learn and memorize, increases the ability to solve problems, and even develops the creative mind.
NO ADVERSE EFFECTS
To reach these conclusions, researchers at Oxford and Harvard Universities synthesized the results of 24 studies conducted between 1990 and 2014 on the effects of this drug on people without any sleep disorders.
“The Armodafinil probably deserves the title of first agent ‘ nootropic ‘ validated scientifically,” said Anna-Katharine Brem, co-author of the study.
In addition, unlike other similar molecules such as Adderral or Ritalin, Armodafinil would have virtually no side effects or risk of addiction. The only negative consequences observed in the control patients during the tests were a slight headache and nausea, but in similar proportions between the placebo group and the group taking the actual drug. You can buy it from RXShopMD.
ETHICAL DEBATE
However, doctors warn of possible long-term effects, on which no information is available: “It would be difficult to obtain ethical approval for such tests,” says Dr. Brem in his study, while calling for his wishes. For Peter Morgan, a doctor at Yale School of Medicine, however, it is likely that the effects of the drug will subside during regular consumption, such as caffeine or nicotine.
Faced with these results, doctors are calling for a public debate on the consequences of such drugs.
