Nootropics are prescribed for adults and children to increase performance, improve brain function and protect it from external adverse factors. However, if any of the drugs prescribed by doctors really work, then not all. We decided to check if there is a sufficient confirmation of the effectiveness of nootropics.
Almost any person would like to work more efficiently, but getting less. Coming to such a request to a doctor often Assign Drugs from the group nootropes. By statements manufacturers, they have a wide range of action: regulate metabolism, reduce psycho -emotional stress, Raise mental performance and motivation, improve memory, Reduced aggressiveness and conflict, facilitate falling asleep and normalize sleep, help recover after concussion and strokes, as well as cope with with symptoms of menopause and withdrawal syndrome. Children nootropics Write out when stuttering, enuree and ADHD, and elderly - In the diseases of Parkinson and Alzheimer.
The first nootropic counts Piracetam, invented in 1964 by the Romanian chemist and psychologist Corneliu Dzhurjoy. According to his article of 1977, nootropic drugs should have the following useful characteristics: to improve the assimilation of knowledge, give the brain resistant to damaging agents, facilitate the transmission of information between the hemispheres of the brain, enhance subcortal control and do not have the usual effects of psychotropic drugs.
Today, nootropics are extremely popular. It is predicted that in 2025 their world turnover will be Almost $ 5 billion. In our country, this group of funds is also very common. In 2017, Russians Spent They have 18 billion rubles, in the first half of 2018 increased by 22% compared to the same period in 2016, and the demand continues from year to year grow. Nootropics and abroad are popular. According to The Times, 20% of British university students Accept neurostimulants to improve performance, and at least once a year to nootropics Reaches Almost every third American.
On the list of the most popular nootropics in the Russian market Enter The drugs "Glycin", "Mildronate", "Piracetam", "Semax", "Cerebrolysin", "Fenibut" and "Vinpocetin". Some of them even Included In the list of vital and most important drugs (GNLP). All these drugs are completely different groups of chemicals - amino acids, predecessors of neurotransmitters, complex molecules, including vitamins and acids, fragments of hormones, as well as extracts from the brain of cattle or pigs. At the same time, most of them declare a similar mechanism of action - a molecule of the active substance should pass the hematoencephalic barrier (GEB) and “commit a revolution” in the brain. Hematoencephalic barrier - This is a filter between the circulatory and central nervous systems. On the one hand, it protects the brain from the blood in the blood of microorganisms and toxins, on the other hand, it retains many therapeutic substances from penetration into the brain and thereby complicates the therapy of certain diseases.
It is the work of the GEB that makes a significant part of nootropes useless. In particular, this applies to “glycine”, the drug is one of 20 amino acids. Its molecule is too large and does not pass through the “sieve” GEB, while the amount of this amino acid necessary for the normal functioning of the brain produces the body itself. In 2007, American scientists conducted study. Volunteers took large doses of substances - 0.8 g per 1 kg, which for a person weighing 62 kg (average value for a population) is almost 50 g, this is 500 times higher recommended Dosage 100-150 mg. As a result, they did not find the influence on the indicators of memory, attention or processing of information. To date, Glycin, according to the recommendations of the American Office for Sanitary Supervision of the quality of food and medicines (FDA), Applied Only for washing the urethra during urological procedures.
Also through the GEB Does not penetrate and glutaminic acid, which is often positioned as nootropic both in itself and in composition The drug "Nooklerin". The second substance in the "Nooclerina" - Deanol - raises even more questions. According to the data research, it violates the natural production of some neurotransmitters, capable of provoke violations of the cardiovascular system, exacerbate depression, as well as Calls Serious defects in the nervous tube in the formation of the embryo.
The effectiveness of the oldest nootropic - “piracetam” - also remains in question. In 2007, ramps in his Resolutions She called it an obsolete drug with unproven effectiveness along with other nootropes - Cerebrolysin, Vinpocetin and Phenotropil. "Piracetam" also did not show There is no effectiveness in the treatment of dementia and cognitive disorders in the Kokrain review (key source of information in the field of evidence -based medicine), which included 24 research on a group of almost 12,000 people. IN research 2012, scientists did not note the difference between the group taking the drug and the group taking placebo to treat the consequences of ischemic stroke. There is also no data that the substance helps healthy people better think or accelerates the memorization of information.
“Cerebrolysin” and his twin brother “cortexin” (the first is received from the brain of cows, the second from the brain of pigs), in addition to the resolution of the rams, is also mentioned in the Kokrainsky review. According to him, when the drug is added to the therapy of ischemic stroke, the risk of death does not decrease, while "the number of serious, not fatal undesirable consequences increases." Chinese scientists also did not find evidence of the effectiveness of Cerebrolysin in patients with vascular dementia. According to the base of scientific publications Pubmed, Cortexin almost did not fall into any foreign research. Russian scientists also did not find its effectiveness.
As for Mildronate, or Meldonia, which became popular after introduction it is in the list of doping substances, even on the manufacturer's website No information The fact that it can improve brain activity. Exists Only one study on the effect of the drug on the brain conducted on 227 participants has ended back in 2010, but the results have not been published so far. Therefore, we can say that only popular rumor endowed the nootropic effect of Milronate.
At the same time, substances that really “disperse” the brain actually exist. True, they are all prohibited in Russia and Included The list of psychotropic drugs, whose turnover is prohibited. For example, "Adderal", a combination of four salts of amphetamines, according to research, improves the reaction rate and stimulates short -term memory, and also relieves fatigue and increases muscle strength. It is worth noting that under the formal definition of “Adderal” nootropics and similar substances do not fall, because the classic nootropic, according to Jurjja, should not cause addiction and have the effects of neuropsychotropic drugs.
It is also important to note that even ineffective drugs have side effects. Manufacturers List their: anxiety, dizziness, headache, hallucinations, allergic reactions, nervousness, body weight, body increase, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting. Therefore, the reception of nootropics can be not only useless, but also dangerous.
Popular pediatrician Evgeny Komarovsky Summarizes The conclusions of scientists: "Nobody has failed to justify the benefits and effectiveness of nootropic drugs by the methods of evidence -based medicine." Neuropsychologist Barbara Sakhakyan from the University of Cambridge, speaking about the possibilities of nootropics, Turns Attention to this fact: "There are no long -term safety studies and the effectiveness of nootropics in healthy people."
Thus, some substances can really make our brain work better, but to purchase them in a pharmacy to successfully pass the session or write a quarterly report. Everything that the modern Russian farm market offers is drugs with missing effectiveness evidence that is not able to help an ordinary person become a genius or work 20 hours a day, without fatigue. As in the case of some other groups of drugs, about which We wrote previouslyNootropics improve mainly the material condition of manufacturers, and not the state of health of patients.
Not true
Read on the topic:
- Is it true that dysbiosis as a diagnosis does not exist, and probiotics are useless?
- Is it true that immunity is falling in the spring and it needs to be raised?
If you find a spelling or grammatical error, please inform us of this, highlighting the text with an error and by pressing Ctrl+Enter.
