Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep

am I the only one seeing a trend here?

Narcotic Pills: same effect as(or even made from) opiates.

Nasal No-Doz: Same effect as Coca leaves processed or un-processed.

Whats next?

my guess...

Cannibinol Sleep aids: THC in pill form so you can get a full 8 hours sleep.

Jeez... So the real deal is illegal, but produce it in a lab and slap any big Pharma name on it... and it's legit. Sheesh. I haven't taken meds (no serious conditions either...) for 11 years now... and I feel great. if I get a REALLY bad headache I'll take an advil.

As a kid I was raised on a regiment of penicillin at least 4 times a year, and I was always sick... As a adult I avoid prescriptions at ALL times... and I'm never sick; of course disregarding the occasional hangover.

To the mods. the point of this post is that Pharmaceutical companies, while necessary, see that there is A LOT of money to be made curing our homegrown symptoms; while ignoring those that are killing off our 3rd world populations.
I personally find this a bit disgusting. Edit if you must... But I hope my point is concise enough to avoid such action.


Coven

Darpa sponsoring this research makes sense. Anything to increase the effectiveness of the military is their reasoning. The military has a long history of playing with chemicals on their troops.
One question is if you replace a naturally occurring chemical with a synthetic or external source, will the body stop producing it naturally, making you dependent on obtaining the chemical from the external source? This type of thing happens with people who take prednisone for long periods of time. Thats my million dollar question.

reply to post by harddrive21



That ACTUALLY SHOULD BE everyone's million dollar question.

The more I think about this product the more I grow to hate BIG PHARMA...

(and of course military testing on soldiers...)

It would be hypocritical for me to hate Big Pharma. But I do have my criticisms. One of the big one's being such a short time from chemical discovery to product use by the public. The public trials are short and not with enough people. Data collected is reviewed by the drug companies and reviewed by the FDA who are in a crappy spot. The FDA is funded by the federal government AND by Big Pharma. So would you bite the hand that feeds you? One example I will toss out is Vioxx. There was plenty of data early on that their may have been cardiac consequences. Did that slow down the product entry onto the market? Absolutely not. Now Merck cries about low stock price and the lawsuits. They made Billions. But on the other hand, without them, modern medical science would not be able to keep us alive past 50 with our high blood pressure, type 2 Diabetes and other chronic but deadly diseases/comorbidities.

Originally posted by NJ Mooch

This isn't a good idea for the public since they will abuse this. At least the military will use it when needed. Some would argue that the military would use it all the time, but here's why I don't think that will happen.

Air force has been giving their pilots an amphetamine based drug for this reason for years now ... since the beginning of the 2nd Iraq war maybe earlier.

Every known illicit drug sold on the streets today was once used in medicine. Look it up, everything except meth, but forms of the drug that are less extreme are used. And actually, almost every kind of prescription only drug is sold on the street for double the money. I'm not gonna get into specifics but i can see this new drug taking that route in a hot minute.

The big pharmaceutical companies no what the public likes, it likes to get effed up on drugs and stay in their happy lala land. Xanex, prozac, oxycontin, vicodin: while all of these drugs have a place in medicine, they are all used far to much by far too many people. I only know what i've just read about it, but i can tell you right now if it keeps you awake, it's going to be addictive and people will get hooked on it to the extreme.

W3RLIED2 - I will agree with you that every abused drug once had a pharmaceutical and therapeutic place in medicine. Methamphetamine is just a close cousin or brother of the Amphetamines used to treat ADHD. The benefit of staying up for days on end has major consequences. To name one that would be troublesome : muscle fatigue. During the 4-8 hours of sleep a person gets (I get towards 4, I hope you get 8), that is the time our muscles use to repair and regenerate. Without the proper rest, breakdown and lactic acid buildup may occur, causing an increase in cramping or muscle pulls/tears. There are alot more that can go wrong that can go right. For a 1 time use in extreme circumstances, this may be ok. Long term, probably really really bad.

i guess i misread the article. i got from it that it was to reduce the effects of lack of sleep, not replace sleep. anyone whos ever been in the military can tell you that sleep is a precious commodity and thats just a fact of life. if theres something that will raise acuity and stave off fatigue associated with a long day then might that not be at least not a bad thing?

medically id be the first in line for this if it hits the market. due to my health condition i always feel like i didnt sleep, and i bounce between insomnia and hypersomnia. i wont sleep for 2-3 days or ill sleep for 20 hrs. but no matter how much i sleep, unless im havng a good day, i wake up feeling like i just put in a 16hr work day, and i dont work due to my health.

so if this allowed me to feel even a little human again, id welcome it.

Everyone's talking about the drug's effects on the brain, but what about the body? Does the body not need a sufficient amount of rest in order to repair itself, as well? If and when this drug goes out on store shelves, people will abuse it, and it may lead to many deaths in the long run.

Heck, people with Narcolepsy might even sell these medications to people that do not suffer from the condition but want to perform better at their work. This sort of thing is already happening with people that have ADHD (yes, I know it's bogus) and take adderall or ritalin. Students (mostly those in college) that do not have this condition buy said drugs from those with a prescription in order to do better on exams.

reply to post by Impreza

of course theres a potential to abuse anything. we already to. caffine nicotine etc and just how hard is it for someone without a prescription to get pretty much any meds out there?

but should that stop production of it for those it might help? if thats the case why is oxycontin still on the market? vicodin? (another one i couldnt get out of bed without cuz of my health)

"Not tonight babe I'm tired"

"hey honey, smell this new aftershave I got"

this drug mimics the bodies own processes, so it will be highly addictive, that type of drug always is. the more you take the less you body will make and if you come off the drug you will always fell tired and lethargic.

if it improoves cognative ability it's probably not intoxicating.

if your body already produces it and you sleep every couple of days the side effects won't be excessive, apart from dependance.

a non-intoxicating, highly addictive drug with few side effects. sounds like a 21st century shackle to me.