Brain Steroids: Ban Or Boost?

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  flyingtom16803/25/08 Report as spam
  1

  As long as it's not addictive

  At some particularly crucial moments, we might want some extra boost of our brain power. To me, the boosters should be fine as long as they are not addictive.

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  Michael Fitzgerald03/25/08 Report as spam
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  addictive

  Thanks for your comment. I haven't seen reports that they are addictive, though they can have side effects, of course.
  
  Michael Fitzgerald

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  baillie1103/25/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Brain Steroids: Ban Or Boost?

  Not only do I think they should NOT be banned, but I think they should be made available WITHOUT a prescription.

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  Michael Fitzgerald03/25/08 Report as spam
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  re ban or boost

  Thanks for your comment. I have mixed feelings about this. I had to take Ritalin as a child and hated it. It's odd to me that people would actually want to take it. I also think as a culture we tend to look for magic bullets, and I wonder whether there are really measurable benefits to these pills (note that one of the researchers interviewed did not think people would see much improvement in performance unless they actually needed the drugs).
  
  On the other hand, if there aren't side effects, and there are improvements, it's hard to say 'don't do this.'
  
  Michael Fitzgerald

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  SPelch03/26/08 Report as spam
  5

  HATED IT?

  I don't know much about Ritalin, could you please explain why, as a child, you hated taking it?

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  Michael Fitzgerald03/26/08 Report as spam
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  hated it

  Sure. I felt like a freak. In my mind, I was being told I had behavioral problems that meant I had to be medicated. I doubt anyone actually used those words, but that was my reaction to it. Timing probably had as much to do with my reaction as anything else. We had changed school districts and I wasn't fitting in very well.
  
  It must've worked. I was on the medication for less than year.

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  jcolyer03/25/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Brain Steroids: Ban Or Boost?

  I think that managed properly and used for specific tasks and projects as a one off and continually taken can enhance performance. Unfortunately it has to be carefully balanced with nutrition, exersize and a certain amount of recovery or downtime.

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  miskelly03/26/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Brain Steroids: Ban Or Boost?

  you would have to be brain dead to use them, sportsmen do it to win but at what cost? Now it's called cheating. In the future what will the cost of this be to workers? If you are stupid enough to fall for this fad or stunt, then you probably won't benefit.

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  Michael Fitzgerald03/26/08 Report as spam
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  brain dead?

  According to a report in 2004, by the bioethicist Martha J. Farah and a number of co-authors (see: http://www.bioethics.upenn.edu/pdf/wolpe_neurocog.pdf)
  
  there is widespread use of such drugs. The report also notes that nutritional supplements promising to boost memory have reached more than a billion in sales (this was in 2004, mind you). meanwhile, such drugs do seem to boost recall and attention span, at least overall.
  
  Maybe there's a lot of brain-dead folks out there, but maybe it's a natural inclination. The report notes that we begin to lose recall starting in our third decade of life (that would be our 20s) and it would have to be tempting at the least to want to extend that. As a society we are active users of cosmetic surgery, after all.
  
  Michael Fitzgerald

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  jenyj8903/26/08 Report as spam
  10

  RE: Brain Steroids: Ban Or Boost?

  I think it's silly to compare OTC "brain steroids" to prescription drugs such as Ritalin, etc which are used for actual psychological/medical reasons. That's like comparing herbal remedies for depression to anti-depression medications!! My question would be...has the FDA looked into these "brain steroids"? Have there been any medical studies done on the use of them? Do we know what the side effects are? What the long term side effects are? Do we know what drug interactions there may be? There are alot of unanswered questions that should be considered before we jump headlong over the cliff like a pack of lemmings because it sounds "too good to be true."

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  rgilmour03/26/08 Report as spam
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  Its not the adictive bit I am worried about

  What if they have "interesting" side effects, think of the aggression triggered by muscle steroids? The long term health impacts would have much more of an issue for me.
  
  And goverments have such a good track record or limiting addictive substances. Cigarette, anyone?

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  SPelch03/26/08 Report as spam
  12

  Herbal Brain booster

  I doubt I would want yet another prescription ANYTHING added to my already impressive pharmaceutical collection....however, I don't see anything wrong with taking herbal preparations designed to improve alertness and acuity.. I take something called Brainstorm 2- Ginko biloba, Gotu Kola, and Perriwinkle- probably a smidgen of other things thrown in there for good measure...Is it proven to work? Probably not. Do I notice a difference when I take it? YES. Do I think it gives me an "unfair advantage" (as a previous poster suggested) um...NO. Truth is, I'm lucky to get 5 hours sleep a night...so I need something, better than caffeine, to help me stay on top of my game. Maybe the Brainstorm 2 puts me on the same level as someone who is fortunate to get 7-8 hours sleep a night...is that an "unfair advantage"?

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  simpsond@...03/30/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Brain Steroids: Ban Or Boost?

  While they may be necessary for getting ADHD sufferers more focused, others should stick to the milder caffiene formulations. These are also addictive if used over long periods!