(Newswire.net — December 26, 2018) — Many prominent news commentators, politicians, and other high profile creatives credit a class of drugs known as nootropics for enhancing their cognitive function and helping them to get more work done.
Trump’s head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson says he feels sharper than ever. “The brain is like a muscle,” he told interviewers. “You’ve got to work it out and use supplements just like bodybuilders use, but for your brain, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing to enhance my mental capabilities.”
As supplements of this kind have gained popularity, more and more well-known people have admitted to using nootropics to boost clarity of thought, promote wakefulness, and to give them a sense of enthusiasm.
These substances are largely available over the counter, are available for order online and have been on the open market for well over a decade. During that time, researchers at Harvard have been studying drugs of this kind. What they have found is that they are really more of a supplement that boosts neurological activity.
Ben Lishger, a researcher from Harvard said, “As soon as I took it started working within minutes of taking it. All of a sudden, it felt like a dark cloud had been lifted up from in front of me. I was more alert, more focused, had long-lasting energy, and experienced a mental clarity that I’d never felt before.”
When asked about a specific “brain booster” Harvard associate Dr. Cortigan said, “It is engineered with all the ingredients the brain needs to support cognitive growth, short and long-term memory, focus, energy, problem-solving capabilities, and total brain performance.”
Despite the lack of side effects and their broad popularity, the FDA has still taken a skeptical view of these drugs. Despite the fact that they are largely herbal in nature and derive their energy boosting effects from a high caffeine content, much of the buzz surrounding them has created a general feeling that these drugs are in some way related to amphetamines.
Amphetamines are powerful stimulants used in some prescription drugs, are intended to produce focus, and are sometimes used in conjunction with anti-depressants.
Some FDA officials say they are very concerned about the fact that these drugs are readily accessible and that even children can access them since it’s so hard to ban non-pharmaceutical herbs. But Ben Carson himself that he supports keeping nootropics readily accessible for over the counter purchase or to order online.
Recently, other purely herbal substances have received strong pushback from the FDA, but the agency has made little real progress in that direction.