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circularvortex
Bass Head




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"Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep"
#7808509 - 12/28/07 08:26 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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From http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/12/sleep_deprivation
Quote:
In what sounds like a dream for millions of tired coffee drinkers, Darpa-funded scientists might have found a drug that will eliminate sleepiness.
A nasal spray containing a naturally occurring brain hormone called orexin A reversed the effects of sleep deprivation in monkeys, allowing them to perform like well-rested monkeys on cognitive tests. The discovery's first application will probably be in treatment of the severe sleep disorder narcolepsy.
The treatment is "a totally new route for increasing arousal, and the new study shows it to be relatively benign," said Jerome Siegel, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA and a co-author of the paper. "It reduces sleepiness without causing edginess."
Orexin A is a promising candidate to become a "sleep replacement" drug. For decades, stimulants have been used to combat sleepiness, but they can be addictive and often have side effects, including raising blood pressure or causing mood swings. The military, for example, administers amphetamines to pilots flying long distances, and has funded research into new drugs like the stimulant modafinil (.pdf) and orexin A in an effort to help troops stay awake with the fewest side effects.
The monkeys were deprived of sleep for 30 to 36 hours and then given either orexin A or a saline placebo before taking standard cognitive tests. The monkeys given orexin A in a nasal spray scored about the same as alert monkeys, while the saline-control group was severely impaired.
The study, published in the Dec. 26 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, found orexin A not only restored monkeys' cognitive abilities but made their brains look "awake" in PET scans.
Siegel said that orexin A is unique in that it only had an impact on sleepy monkeys, not alert ones, and that it is "specific in reversing the effects of sleepiness" without other impacts on the brain.
Such a product could be widely desired by the more than 70 percent of Americans who the National Sleep Foundation estimates get less than the generally recommended eight hours of sleep per night (.pdf).
The research follows the discovery by Siegel that the absence of orexin A appears to cause narcolepsy. That finding pointed to a major role for the peptide's absence in causing sleepiness. It stood to reason that if the deficit of orexin A makes people sleepy, adding it back into the brain would reduce the effects, said Siegel.
"What we've been doing so far is increasing arousal without dealing with the underlying problem," he said. "If the underlying deficit is a loss of orexin, and it clearly is, then the best treatment would be orexin."
Dr. Michael Twery, director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, said that while research into drugs for sleepiness is "very interesting," he cautioned that the long-term consequences of not sleeping were not well-known.
Both Twery and Siegel noted that it is unclear whether or not treating the brain chemistry behind sleepiness would alleviate the other problems associated with sleep deprivation.
"New research indicates that not getting enough sleep is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders," said Twery.
Still, Siegel said that Americans already recognize that sleepiness is a problem and have long treated it with a variety of stimulants.
"We have to realize that we are already living in a society where we are already self-medicating with caffeine," he said.
He also said that modafinil, which is marketed as Provigil by Cephalon and Alertec in Canada, has become widely used by healthy individuals for managing sleepiness.
"We have these other precedents, and it's not clear that you can't use orexin A temporarily to reduce sleep," said Siegel. "On the other hand, you'd have to be a fool to advocate taking this and reducing sleep as much as possible."
Sleep advocates probably won't have to worry about orexin A reaching drugstore shelves for many years. Any commercial treatment using the substance would need approval from the Food and Drug Administration, which can take more than a decade.
So a brain chemical that makes you able to work unhealthily long periods of time is ok, but a brain chemical that is thought to cause dreams and grants incredible insight is not ok?
-------------------- No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, federal, or fashion police laws. All posts are works of fiction. For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool By making his world a little colder. Under closer inspection I realised it was a funky ball of tits from outer space.
 
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RonaldFuckingPaul
Our Dear Leader



Registered: 10/31/07
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Re: "Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep" [Re: circularvortex]
#7809174 - 12/28/07 11:27 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Sorry to bump this but..this is interesting as fuck.
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KingOftheThing
the cool fool



Registered: 11/17/02
Posts: 27,397
Loc: USA
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Re: "Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep" [Re: circularvortex]
#7809208 - 12/28/07 11:37 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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great, just wait till everyone is awake all the time... can you imagine how much they will make us work?? 8 hour days, 40 hour weeks will be ancient history...no way they would let people have that much free time. if you have to much free time, you start thinking and the last thing they want you to do is fucking think.
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RonaldFuckingPaul
Our Dear Leader



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Re: "Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep" [Re: KingOftheThing]
#7809240 - 12/28/07 11:46 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
KingOftheThing said: great, just wait till everyone is awake all the time... can you imagine how much they will make us work?? 8 hour days, 40 hour weeks will be ancient history...no way they would let people have that much free time. if you have to much free time, you start thinking and the last thing they want you to do is fucking think.
QFT
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Zinglons Acolyte
Wizard Ninja



Registered: 12/03/07
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Re: "Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep" [Re: RonaldFuckingPaul]
#7809326 - 12/29/07 12:11 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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i read about this in popular science quite a while ago
the thing is, its not really replacing sleep, it just eliminates the sensation of sleepiness. in order to stay alive you still need to sleep every 3 days or so
it only works on half or so of the systems in the brain that are associated with the urge to sleep
so its not a miracle drug that elimainates the need to sleep, because there is a lot of shit that goes on in your body and brain that science doesnt even know about, they just have an inkling of an idea
i personally think the use of this drug by the general public would be a disaster, until it is more thouroughly explored and the processs of sleep is COMPLETELY understood
-------------------- And they wandered off.. nine ways till bedfast. ----- "And lets pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space 'cause theres bugger-all down here on earth!" -Monty Python's "The Universe Song" from The Meaning of Life "In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely considered as a bad move." -Douglas Adams "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" "If the words 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on." -Terence McKenna
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Silversoul
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Re: "Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep" [Re: KingOftheThing]
#7809341 - 12/29/07 12:17 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
KingOftheThing said: great, just wait till everyone is awake all the time... can you imagine how much they will make us work?? 8 hour days, 40 hour weeks will be ancient history...no way they would let people have that much free time. if you have to much free time, you start thinking and the last thing they want you to do is fucking think.
Considering the 40-hour week is a 20th century innovation, I wouldn't worry too much. The work week isn't based solely on how long people stay awake.
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memes
Blessed



Registered: 01/11/05
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Re: "Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep" [Re: Silversoul]
#7809406 - 12/29/07 12:43 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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i'am be buyin that shit on the black market for sure. i can be so much more productive without sleep!
ugh - i say this like i do anything now. i've spent the last two weeks playing video games and chess.
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chubbycharley
the chubbiest ofthe charleys


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Re: "Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep" [Re: memes]
#7809581 - 12/29/07 02:03 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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-------------------- if i'm just a stoned stoner, sayin some stoned ass shit, please correct me
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Merkin
neep.



Registered: 07/04/03
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Re: "Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep" [Re: KingOftheThing]
#7809787 - 12/29/07 05:08 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
KingOftheThing said: great, just wait till everyone is awake all the time... can you imagine how much they will make us work?? 8 hour days, 40 hour weeks will be ancient history...no way they would let people have that much free time. if you have to much free time, you start thinking and the last thing they want you to do is fucking think.
We're all stuck in one and the same machine. There is no "they".
-------------------- Wheels of cheese wheeels of cheeeeese!!!
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