Illegal 'smart drugs' bought online by teenagers before exams could have catastrophic effect on their health
By Steve Boggan and Tim Stewart
Last updated at 7:53 AM on 10th March 2010
Josh has an exam and, like most of the other boys at his prestigious public school, he’s keen to put his best foot forward. He’s eaten breakfast and dressed smartly, but before he sets off for class, he reaches for a white pill and pops it into his mouth.
像大多數其他的孩子在他著名的公立學校，喬希有一個考試，他非常熱衷把他最好的腳伸前一步。他吃過早餐和穿著瀟灑，但在他出發返學前，他伸手去拿白色的藥片和拋入他嘴裡。
He bought 30 of the tablets online for £40 from the U.S., but for all Josh knows they might well have been knocked up in an illegal backstreet ‘pharmacy’ in India.
他在網上以40英鎊買了來自美國的30片藥 ，但喬希所有知道的是它們很可能曾在印度的非法後街'藥房'被鎖起。
Still, the drug modafinil - usually used to treat sleeping disorders - has worked before for him and if it works again he is sure to get top marks.
仍然那藥物莫達非尼 - 通常用來治療睡眠障礙 - 之前對他曾經掂過，如果它再掂他肯定會得到高分。
Welcome to the world of ‘smart drugs’, otherwise known as cognitive enhancement pharmaceuticals.
歡迎來到'聰明藥'的世界，又稱為增強認知藥物。
Stressful time: These pupils took exams without help, but other school children can be pushed into taking extreme measures
緊張的時間：這些學生參加考試沒得到幫助，但其他學校的孩子可能被迫採取極端方法
This is a world where pupils as young as 15 self-medicate, participate in illegal online drug trafficking and swap notes on the best pill cocktails for good grades.
這是一個世界，在那裡學生自我治療年僅 15歲，參加非法網絡販運毒品和為好成效交換最佳藥丸雞尾酒的意見。
Concern over smart drugs has been growing for some time among academics, politicians and pharmacologists, but it has been brought
into sharp focus with the announcement that the former health minister, Lord Darzi of Denham, is heading a study at Imperial College, London, into their effects.
學術界、政客和藥理學家關注聰明藥物在一段時間已越來越多，但它成為
矚目焦點因為宣布前衛生部長德納姆大臣達史，會在倫敦帝國學院率領一項研究有關它們的影響。
This might seem odd because most of these drugs have been around for decades for the treatment of conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, and have been found to be safe.
這看似奇怪，因為這些藥物大多數已經存在了幾十年用以治療症狀，如注意力缺陷多動症（ADHD）和發作性睡病，並已證實是安全的。
But no one has monitored their chaotic use in healthy young people taking inappropriate doses to boost their intellectual prowess.
但是沒有人監督它們在健康年輕人的混亂使用，服用不宜的劑量去提高他們的知識威力。
And some experts believe this kind of use in brains that are still developing could cause addiction and permanent damage.
一些專家相信，在大腦仍處於發展階段這種使用，是可能導致上癮和永久性的損害。
Josh is an intelligent, articulate 17-year-old, so you wonder why he needs extra help to feel smart. He has been taking modafinil (sold as the prescription-only drugs Provigil, Alertec, Modavigil and Modalert) since he was 16, but has friends who began using smart pharmaceuticals at 15. He lives in London and his parents are lawyers.
17歲的喬希是聰明和口齒伶俐，所以你懷疑他為什麼需要額外幫助去覺得聰明。自他16歲他一直在服用莫達非尼（只作處方藥物出售的 Provigil，Alertec，Modavigil和Modalert），但有朋友 在15歲開始使用智能藥品，他住在倫敦和他的父母都是律師。
‘I read about modafinil in a newspaper and then researched it on the internet and spoke to some of my friends about it,’ he says.
'我在一份報紙讀到莫達非尼，然後在互聯網上研究它，和與我的一些朋友談及它，'他說。
‘It appealed to me as an inexpensive method for highly concentrated revision, for which I would otherwise depend on coffee, tea or Red Bull. Modafinil gives you heightened alertness, stamina and productivity. I find it helpful for focus and memory.
'它訴諸於我作為一個不昂貴的方法達到高度集中的修正，為此我會以其他方式倚賴咖啡、茶或紅牛。莫達非尼給你提高警覺性、耐力和生產力，我發覺它對聚焦和記億是有幫助的。
‘I find I can memorise a graph after drawing it once instead of several times. I would say it makes me 40 to 50 per cent more productive in a day, but it does not make me any cleverer.
'我覺得我能記住圖表在繪製它一次之後，而不是多次。我會說它讓我一天生產力多40%至50%，但它不會使我更聰明。
‘While revising for my last set of exams, I was taking 100mg of modafinil a day for six or seven days a week for three weeks.
'在考試重温我的最後一套，我每天服用100毫克莫達非尼，每週 6天或7天，達3個星期。
"Noone has monitored the chaotic use of 'smart drugs' in healthy young peopleAround half-term, I stepped it up to 150mg to 200mg a day and in the last two or three weeks up to the exams I took 200mg to 300mg a day and worked 18-hour days.
taking inappropriate doses"
"沒有人監察'聰明藥'在健康的年輕人中的混亂使用，服用不恰當的劑量"
‘I find you can get by on four to six hours of sleep for up to three weeks and then, at the end, the body needs to rest and catch up. I take a whole day off and sleep for 24 hours.
‘Taking it is no different from having other stimulants such as coffee, ProPlus caffeine tablets or Red Bull. It is no different from taking painkillers for a headache.
‘I use it specifically for exams and will carry on at university. I would recommend it to anyone who is informed about it and knows what they are doing.
‘I haven’t told my parents about using modafinil. They wouldn’t know what it is and they wouldn’t approve of me using it.’
Josh’s use of modafinil is not unusual. A quick scan of student web forums uncovers a world where drug advice is swapped.
The benefits of Ritalin and Adderall, which are meant to be used to treat ADHD, are compared with Provigil, Modalert and a group of drugs called ampakines - prescription pharmaceuticals that are showing promise in the treatment of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The problem in telling students not to take them is that tests have shown these drugs can help with focus, memory, concentration and alertness by interacting in different ways with neurotransmitters - chemical messengers - in the brain.
the ADHD treatments contain amphetamines, which can result in addiction, and there are suspicions that sleep disorder treatments such as modafinil could be addictive.
Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at Cambridge University, says scientists understand how drugs such as Ritalin work by stimulating levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine and noradrenaline in the brain.
These affect mood, cognition and memory. ‘However, there is an optimal dose for ideal performance,’ she says.
這些影響情緒，認知和記憶， '但是，理想的性能有一個最佳的劑量，'她說。
‘Levels beyond that could cause problems with addiction. With modafinil, no one really knows how exactly the drug acts in the brain to boost cognition.’
超過水平後，可能導致癮的問題。莫達非尼，沒有人真正知道那藥物如何確切地在大腦工作以提高認知。
Concern: Lord Darzi is heading a study into the effects of 'smart drugs'關注：大臣達史率領研究聰明藥的'影響
However, evidence is emerging that modafinil - thought not to be addictive - also affects the levels of dopamine. This is significant because dopamine production can lead to addictive behaviour.
但是有證據出現，莫達非尼 - 被認為不是上癮 - 亦影響多巴胺的水平；這一點很重要，因為多巴胺的生產能導致上癮的行為。
Sometimes referred to as the ‘reward’ drug, dopamine is released during experiences such as the enjoyment of sex, food and drugs. We are programmed to repeat rewarding experiences, a cycle that can result in addiction.
有時被稱為'獎賞'的藥物，多巴胺被釋放是在經驗，例如性享受，食品和藥品。我們被編程重複獎勵經驗，一個會導致成癮的循環。
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year looked at ten healthy men taking modafinil and found it did increase levels of dopamine. The research was conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Nida) in the U.S.
美國醫學協會雜誌的一項研究發表，去年看了10名健康男性服用莫達非尼，及發現它確實增加多巴胺水平，這項研究是由在美國國家藥物濫用研究所（Nida）指揮。
‘[Modafinil] has the signature that it could potentially be addictive,’ says Nida’s director Dr Nora Volkow.
‘Studies have shown consistently that all of the drugs of abuse . . . have a common effect of increasing dopamine in the nucleus accumbens [area of the brain].
‘That is believed to be crucial for their reinforcing effect and ultimately their underlying potential for producing addiction.’
The jury is still out on whether modafinil is addictive. Scientists regard tests on just ten people as being far from definitive.
Sahakian has called on the Government to hold a public debate on the use of smart drugs.
On the one hand, she feels they could be of real benefit to society if proven to be safe.
On the other, she wonders whether in some dystopian future people will be pressured into taking them to work longer and harder.
Already, there is evidence that students feel pressured into taking smart drugs to compete with highachieving classmates who are using them. And some pushy parents appear to be condoning their use.
One third-year student studying computer science at London Metropolitan University told us that taking modafinil is a ‘lifesaver’ in helping him to complete assignments.
‘I am aware of school children who have taken modafinil. They were aged between 16 and 18,’ he says.
‘Their father [a computer programmer], my friend, used to take it occasionally.
‘The parents had extremely high expectations for their children and they were taking exams.
‘My friend’s daughter was advised to take modafinil by her classmates. Unfortunately, this was a terrible decision.
‘She was taken to hospital after five days of sleep deprivation. She had high blood pressure, was anxious and experienced some kind of hallucinations and psychosis.
‘She was taking extremely high doses of modafinil. I was told she had felt some kind of euphoria and kept taking more and more. It is proof that modafinil can be addictive for some people.’
If Nida in the U.S. is correct and all these drugs affect dopamine levels in some way, then concern is likely to focus on students self-medicating inappropriate dosages and using them over a long time.'[Modanafil] appealed to me as an inexpensive method for highly concentrated
revision, for which I would otherwise depend on coffee, tea or Red Bull'Josh, 17'[Modanafil]訴諸我作為一種廉價的方法，得到高度集中的修正，為此我會以其它方式倚賴於咖啡、茶或紅牛'十七歲的喬希
Dr Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist and Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, says that while treating young ADHD patients with carefully controlled doses of Ritalin can improve their lives immeasurably, unmonitored doses taken by healthy youngsters could be damaging.
‘A therapeutic dose arrived at by careful monitoring by a physician might be anywhere from 5mg to 60mg a day,’ he says.
‘We know that can enhance brain function in many people by stimulating levels of dopamine.
‘But where you have some of these students taking concentrations of 100mg to 500mg, that could cause some problems.
‘The extra dopamine produced constricts blood flow to the brain and, over the long term, that could cause permanent damage.
‘The adolescent brain, especially the pre-frontal cortex - the most thoughtful part of the brain - is developing rapidly. Anything that disrupts or interferes with this process can cause lasting problems.'
There is debate on student forums over whether using smart drugs amounts to cheating.
Some say it does, while others argue that those who want to ban them should be prepared to give up commonplace stimulants, such as caffeine and nicotine. Even academics are divided.
Dr Anders Sandberg, a philosophy lecturer specialising in bioethics at Oxford University, tried modafinil as part of his research three years ago and now uses it openly.
In common with students who take it, Dr Sandberg is on the legal side of an illegal transaction. Under the 1963 Medicines Act, it is an offence to supply a drug without a prescription, but not to buy one.
'When I take it, it is like having a little electric motor in the back of my head running through lists of things I need to do,' he says. 'Then, instead of putting them off until tomorrow, I go ahead and do them.
'I use the drugs only occasionally if I have a paper to write or need to fly long distances to attend a conference or deliver a speech. I find that instead of having jet-lag, I can focus on the job at hand.'
But isn't that sending the wrong message to students?
'This is something I have spent a lot of time considering, but in general I believe people should have control over their own bodies,' he says.
'That right is important, but you need to use it appropriately and that's why youngsters shouldn't take responsibility for managing drugs, alcohol or enhancers. 'These drugs are like step-ladders.
'If you need them to attain something that would otherwise be out of your reach, then use them. But if you can reach those heights anyway, then you're just being lazy.'
However, health professionals take a dim view of anyone misusing drugs.
'Anyone taking prescription drugs without a prescription obtained through a consultation with a health professional is making a big mistake,' says Neal Patel, a pharmacist and spokesman for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
'It's dangerous to experiment with medicines and the sideeffects of cognitive enhancement drugs are significant - they can cause abdominal pain, nausea, heart problems and changes in blood pressure.
'These side- effects are dose dependent - the more you take, the greater your risk of being affected and seriously harmed.'
Professor Sahakian and Dr Amen say there are other, less risky yet proven remedies for improving brain function: sleep, exercise and a healthy diet. Apparently, they work.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1256481/Illegal-smart-drugs-bought-online-teenagers-exams-catastrophic-effect-health.html
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