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Science journal finds 20% of its readers are 'doping'

ANNE MCILROY

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 1:05 PM EDT 20/04/08

Poll respondents use brain-boosting drugs to improve memory, science journal says ...Read the full article

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  1. Expert Eel from OttaPettaOshawawawawa, Canada writes: hydroxytryptophan or 5-HTP produces a similar effect (ming calming, attention boosting) for a cheaper price and is completely natural with no harmful side effects other than flatulance.
  2. C J from Canada writes: Only 20%?! They need to rephrase their survey questions
  3. SN Dream from Canada writes: I wonder how many student are getting academic advantage over anti jet-lag pills. Oh, since they include anti-anxiety medication, they should include antidepressant too, they will boost the number way up.
  4. Kevin Isicovit from Edmonton, Canada writes: How is that NOT drug abuse? Just because it enhances performance in the interest of getting your work done?

    I suppose we do the same with caffeine, though.
  5. Ivan Patrick from Canada writes: "As a professional, it is my duty to use my resources to the greatest benefit of humanity. If 'enhancers' can contribute to this humane service, it is my duty to do so."

    Indicative of a true addict.
  6. Dan Shortt from Toronto, Canada writes: I take a beta-blocker by prescription. I read somewhere that stage performers or speech-makers have been known to pop a pill or two to help calm their 'stage-fright.'

    I was also curious to see that the Professional Golf Association has included beta-blockers on their list of performance enhancing substances that golfers on the tour will be prohibited from using.

    That's understandable on the PGA's part, but I wonder where that leaves a golfer who takes beta-blockers by prescription for a medical condition.
  7. Don Quixote from the drying Banana Belt, Ont., Canada writes: So a fifth of our mental elite are drug addicts?
  8. Murray Braithwaite from Canada writes: Isaac Newton used to put needles in his eye sockets to gain better "insight" (sorry) into optics. Read biographies of great scientists and philosophers and they almost all followed some quirky regime as a performance-enhancing ritual. Personally, I a handful of fermented cocoa beans (unprocessed, 100% chocolate) and drink green tea steeped with wold blueberries every morning as a performance enhancer for my brain. Also, vigourous aerobic exercise (heart rate over 130 bpm for 20 minutes, at least three times per week) helps neurogenesis. The list goes on. Lots you can do. I question the long-term effectiveness of the drugs others take, but not the principle. The US is awarding a posthumous medal of honour to a brave soldier who fell on a grenade to save others. We should admire scientists who sacrifice to make discoveries that benefit society.
  9. R. Antifimay from barrie, Canada writes: It is a very sad statement of society when, we can no longer compete in this world, just by simply being ourselves.
  10. frederick duquette from Edmonton, Canada writes: There are no short cuts. Rob Peter to pay Paul, and your body will demand interest on the loan which sooner or later will have to be paid back in full. Maybe Alzheimers, heart disease, depression, who knows but an imbalance is always met with correction.
    Living a stressful life? Taking pills to increase your capacity to perform will typically lead to greater demands to perform, more pills, etc. The problem is the stressful lifestyle, not our inability to perform.
  11. Will Hoaccio from Toronto, Canada writes: Wow, I would hardly consider Ritalin a "brain booster". I actually use Ritalin (close enough, concerta) and I can say first hand most people are not addicted to these. ADD is a real, if not vague, condition many people are prescribed for legitimate medical reasons.

    I will just go off on a tangent here - I have never understood why we care so much about "doping". I would love to see Olympics with drug-enhanced super-people. Likewise, if academics choose to improve themselves through commonly available means, I cannot see the issue. I would hardly consider the genetic lottery which currently dictates Olympic success a fair game.
  12. Prairie Boy from Canada writes: Expert Eel..I have never heard of 5-HTP used in that way. I have used it from time to time to help in getting to sleep.
  13. Wayne Spitzer from Faywood, United States writes: As a scientist I am disappointed to learn that so many of my fellow colleagues have so little respect for their brains.
  14. Don Mills from Toronto, Canada writes: Will from Toronto said; I would hardly consider the genetic lottery which currently dictates Olympic success a fair game. I have thought about this myself, I find it hard to understand why there is so much hostility toward certain medicines, whether prescribed or over the counter. Even the term "doping" was expanded to create an extreme negative connotation. Here is one definition of dope; 1. Dope People who do not do drugs call Marajuana Dope. People who do Marajuanna call Heroin Dope. The term was originally used to decribe the state people are in when they are using depressants. (doped up, lethargic) The term has pretty recently been expanded ironically to include stimulants, which is ridiculous because they have an opposite effect and the term is only applied to them as a slur. I do wonder why it is such a big deal to so many millions, yet to so many other millions it is considered perfectly fine. Why should baseball players be harshly penalized, yet there is no question of stripping college students of the high grades they earn by using the same substances? Howabout stripping scientists of credit for whatever they've discovered under "the influence" of such substances? What next, shall we dig up and test the bones of Thomas Edison?
  15. L Harder from Canada writes: Is there data to show that overall performance actually increases? This may say something about the psychology of being an academic.
  16. SN Dream from Canada writes: Wayne Spitzer from Faywood, United States writes: As a scientist I am disappointed to learn that so many of my fellow colleagues have so little respect for their brains.
    ----------------------------------
    If you are a scientist, you should know polling, especially internet polling are only slightly better than make up statistic. Go buy Statistic for dummy.

    At the end of it, there are no "brain-boosting" pill, at least not yet, all of the medication won't make you smarter - ie: increase your IQ or improve your memory, the closes that come to it is Ritalin which can help you focus. Which bring the question, should we add anti-depressant, coffee or sugar boost to the list? Because that will surely push it to 100%.

    By the way Ritalin are also used as a off label medication to fight obesity, there's even reporting of MD giving it to obese children. I hope people does not consider it to be body enhancer too.
  17. web warlock from Canada writes: I was on Dexedrine for ADD as a youngster for about 5 years. As an adult I've had a chance to do more research; my understanding is that Dexedrine/Ritalin and other amphetamines work by a mechanism identical to that of cocaine, only much slower. The long term effects of these drugs on the dopamine system aren't fully understood, however there is some evidence to suggest that these chemicals can make permanent changes to the dopamine system. Dexedrine and Ritalin are classified in the US as a Schedule II controlled substance because they're highly addictive when abused. The safety profile of short term therapeutic use has been well established; however repeated or intermittent use over the long term isn't well researched; nobody knows what the long term effects are. James Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers who says taking drugs to enhance performance isn't cheating is incorrect. If you aren't using these powerful drugs therapeutically to treat a condition, you're using them to gain an unfair advantage. That's cheating, plain and simple, and people who do this are unethical.
  18. Alex T from Toronto, Canada writes: I'm a research mathematician at a large Canadian university. I once brought up the topic as dinner conversation with colleagues: If there was a drug available that would substantially help you prove great theorems (and by extension, publish great papers and thus improve your career outlook), if they would take it, even if it had some unwanted or dangerous side-effects? Or would they consider it the equivalent of doping in sports? The reaction was surprisingly icy, as though I had brought up a huge taboo. It is well known that some of the great mathematicians of the past took amphetamines, and I am sure some take Ritalin today. Academia at the top level is a cut-throat business about who can publish more and in better journals (forget teaching college students, who cares about that!), and I am sure that the use of performance boosting drugs exists.
  19. Antonio San from Canada writes: Explains your AGW bias Will Hoaccio...LOL
  20. No Left or Right Just Neutral from Canada writes: Good advertisement for Ritalin. Lots of "educated" retards are going to pop it to gain "advantage" over others!!
  21. SN Dream from Canada writes: web warlock from Canada writes: I was on Dexedrine for ADD as a youngster for about 5 years. As an adult I've had a chance to do more research; my understanding is that Dexedrine/Ritalin and other amphetamines work by a mechanism identical to that of cocaine, only much slower.
    ----------------------------
    Wow, another campaign of misinformation. This is like saying religion work by a mechanism identical to cult but less destructive.

    Cocaine and Dexedrine/Ritalin are only related as they are both Dopamine reuptake inhibitors, but this chemical group include many many type of chemical molecules, I believe most of the newer generation of anti-depressant belongs to it, not to mention a bunch of other molecules. This is so stretching it, you might just start calling Obama a Muslim since his middle name is Hussein, .

    I agree the dopamine system aren't fully understood, but do you know what's another great chemical that affect the dopamine system and can possibly make permanent changes to the dopamine system? CAFFEINE, yes, all of the coffee drinker out there, including me and probably you are all cheater and unethical by your definition. Plain and simple, either you want to spread lies here or you are another 3 stages human Turing machine.
  22. SN Dream from Canada writes: Alex T from Toronto, Canada writes: It is well known that some of the great mathematicians of the past took amphetamines, and I am sure some take Ritalin today. Academia at the top level is a cut-throat business about who can publish more and in better journals (forget teaching college students, who cares about that!), and I am sure that the use of performance boosting drugs exists.
    -------------------------------------------
    Alex, take some history course too, it is also well known that at the past amphetamines used to be over the counter diet pills and cold medicine (Not 100% it's cold, but definitely something similar).
  23. web warlock from Canada writes: SN Dream : The difference being that the long term effects of caffeine are well studied and understood, and caffeine is legal, so everyone has access to it. Nobody knows the long term effects of these newer antidepressants and they're illegal for non therapeutic use, not everyone has access to it, and those who use them gain an unfair advantage. A widely used comparison here is athletes and sport; those who use illegal substances are cheaters, and if they're caught, their achievements are null and void. You can also kill yourself with caffeine, you just won't get arrested for abusing it. Let's not kid ourselves: if not everyone can do it, then it's cheating. Anyone with any knowledge on this topic will tell you that amphetamine withdrawal is harder than caffeine, and the effects of snorting powdered caffeine are not on the same level as the effects of snorting powdered amphetamine. If you think snorting is abuse and taking it in pill form is not, I suggest you're misguided. Everyone's heard stories of doctors and medical students running into serious problems with amphetamine addiction. I have my cup of tea every day, and if I go without it's not a big deal, believe me getting off Dexedrine was really hard. Everyone involved has every reason to push these drugs: Big Pharma makes money, parents want their kids to do well, teachers like their students to sit down and shut up, kids get positive feedback. I'll be very interested to see how this experiment of wide spread amphetamine addiction turns out for the next generation; me, I'm happy to do things the hard way. I'm not adverse to supplementation; I'd recommend something that's been around for awhile, like ginko biloba. If you feel the need to experiment with amphetamines, be careful, it's not comparable to a cup of joe.
  24. Tim Rutkevich from Canada writes: Alex T, in my association with a few of premier Canadian Universities I have seen that "brain performance" drugs use is very wide spread. Once you are in grad school everyone around you is smart. There are a few who are so smart they don't need help, others trying to cheat their physical/mental limitations with drugs. The question is: if a person would have no hesitation to take a drug of questionable side/longterm effects, then this person would have no problems publishing "doctored" data, eventhough someone can discover it and harsh consequences can result. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I remember that either Science or Nature published data that about 1/3 of all authors did use "biased to their views data". I think the confidential study on "drug use" would result in similar results. It is too bad, because science depends on honest reports of discoveries. But, for now it is all hidden in the dark corners of academia.
  25. Tim Rutkevich from Canada writes: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=787
  26. SN Dream from Canada writes: Tim Rutkevich from Canada writes: I remember that either Science or Nature published data that about 1/3 of all authors did use "biased to their views data". I think the confidential study on "drug use" would result in similar results. It is too bad, because science depends on honest reports of discoveries. But, for now it is all hidden in the dark corners of academia.
    -------------------------------------------
    It's really the dark side of the society. The academia is just a subset of society, they might be a bit smarter, but it just mean when they are biased, they are able to cover their tracks better.

    That's why you always see PhD in theology or fields totally unrelated to biology are publishing report on issue like evolution, medical cannibals or other stuff.
  27. SN Dream from Canada writes: web warlock from Canada writes:
    Everyone's heard stories of doctors and medical students running into serious problems with amphetamine addiction. I have my cup of tea every day, and if I go without it's not a big deal, believe me getting off Dexedrine was really hard.
    -------------------------------------------
    Ritalin/Dexedrine is not amphetamine, it's methylphenidate there's quite a difference between them, go google it.

    When you mean getting off is hard, you mean it's additive or the withdraw syndrome? Ritalin shouldn't be that additive unless you are snorting it which is a really bad idea. I hope you know you should be stop taking it in decremental dosage because anything that's affect CNS should be not just stop right away.

    Please stop using speculative sport as a comparison, it's really difference, speculative sport like NBA or 100m race are a tightly control environment, taking steroid will make you build more muscle easier, but these so called "brain performance" drugs won't make u smarter in anyway, it will keep you from fallen drifting off to sleep or something like that but that's it. You still have to study the same amount of material and do the same amount of work.

    If taking Ginko Biloba work, , how would it different from taking Ritalin?? Except even better since it's claimed to even improve your memory.
  28. r styles from Canada writes: I wouldn't put much faith in this. Two of the quoted "readers of Nature" sound like jugheads.

    This guy doesn't make any sense:

    "Morally, it puts a disadvantage to people without access," said one American who took part in the poll.

    (I read this as if you don't have access to the drugs you are at a moral disadvantage?!?)

    And this guy:

    "As a professional, it is my duty to use my resources to the greatest benefit of humanity. If 'enhancers' can contribute to this humane service, it is my duty to do so."

    clearly isn't a scientist, but rather a delusional 40 year old living in his mother's basement and spending all of his time sitting in his underwear watching ER, Grey's Anatomy etc.
  29. web warlock from Canada writes: SN Dreams: Dextroamphetamine is a psychostimulant which produces increased wakefulness, energy and self-confidence in association with decreased fatigue and appetite. It is perhaps the archetypal psycho-stimulant, and drugs with similar psychoactive properties are often referred to as "amphetamine analogues", or described as having "amphetamine-like", or even "amphetaminergic" effects. As a sympathomimetic amine, it is more powerful than regular amphetamine and has stimulant properties that are very similar to those of methamphetamine. methylphenidate or Ritalin is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance specifically because of it's addictiveness. and potential for abuse. Reported methylphenidate abuse side effects include psychosis (abnormal thinking or hallucinations), difficulty sleeping, mood swings, mood changes, stomach aches, diarrhea, headaches, lack of hunger (leading to weight loss) and dry mouth. Taking Ritalin for non therapeutic reasons is abuse., you are altering your dopamine system in unintended ways. Ritalin is considered an amphetamine analogue, and as such it is addictive in pill form, although less addictive than smoking or injecting. Ginko Biloba is different because it has stood the test of time, it's not addictive, and it's available to anyone so it's not an unfair advantage. Taking it doesn't make a person a criminal or a cheat.
  30. Placido Durango from Here to Eternity, Canada writes: Two things surprised me about this article:

    First, the high percentage of people using chemical crutches.

    Second, the crappy drugs they are choosing, given the range of excellent nootropic options out there.
  31. SN Dream from Canada writes: Ginko Biloba is different because it has stood the test of time, it's not addictive, and it's available to anyone so it's not an unfair advantage. Taking it doesn't make a person a criminal or a cheat.
    ---------------------------------------
    What do you mean Ginko Biloba stood the test of time?? Chinese use it in food some times but I don't think they use it as "Brain enhances", especially since if eaten in large quantity they can be toxic. Beside, the amount they use should be not be significant enough to have any effects at all.

    No one know either the effect of taking high dosage of concentrated Ginko Biloba over extended amount of time, including does it actually improve memory or not, most of the so call research on it are poorly done and funded by a company that market the product.

    Yes, taking Ritalin without prescriptions is illegal. But the topic we are discussing here is not the legality of Ritalin but the ethics of popping brain-boosting pills, which by the way does not exist.

    Legality aside, caffeine is also a psycho-stimulant that share similar psychoactive property as Ritalin. It work by increasing the activity of the dopamine. The only reason no one would consider drinking coffee as doping is because it's a social norm. But the whole issue of against something because it's a social deviant is illogical since social norm are continuously changing. We should be discuss issue objectively, not base on current society view, otherwise we can easily go into circular reasoning.
  32. Placido Durango from Here to Eternity, Canada writes: http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Drugs-II-Drug-V/dp/0962741876/ref=pdsimbtitle1
  33. Will Hoaccio from Toronto, Canada writes: Antonio San from Canada writes: " Explains your AGW bias Will Hoaccio...LOL"

    That I support letting athletes drug themselves up as much as possible? .... LOL (yea, it makes it that much funnier in caps).
  34. web warlock from Canada writes: Ginkgo nuts are a traditional Chinese food, in Chinese culture they are believed to have health benefits. Ginkgo has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for many, many centuries and is one of the most extensively studied botanicals in use today. In Europe and the US, ginkgo supplements are among the best selling herbal medications, and ranks as a top medicine in France and Germany. The University of Maryland Medical Center website has good information: I'm not sure if the Globe takes underscores but the URL is http://www.umm.edu, if you type Ginkgo in the search and scroll down to the first Medical Reference entry you should get more information. If Ritalin were legal, I wouldn't consider it cheating, because anyone could do it. I would consider it unwise, because unlike coffee or ginkgo it hasn't been in use for hundreds or thousands of years, no one knows what it will do to you. I'm not averse to experimentation, as long as one understands they are experimenting on their brain before they take these substances. Personally I'd rather experiment with a substance that's been in use for centuries instead of decades. I have slightly more faith in traditional medicine than current conventional medicine; I've seen how a lot of research and drug trials get corrupted first hand; this applies equally to studies of natural substances. I believe drugs are admittedly society's cheapest method of treating health problems; I don't believe they're necessarily the best for the individual, and I'd try a natural herb to solve a problem before resorting to drugs as an extreme last resort.
  35. Alex T from Toronto, Canada writes: Tim Rutkevich, thanks for the comment, that confirms my impression. I have very little first hand knowledge now, but back when I was in graduate school I knew that many of my fellow students were taking whatever they could get their hands on to get through qualifying exams, etc. Personally, I dislike the practice of taking performance enhancing drugs beyond the legal stuff like caffeine, etc., since if some people are willing to do it, then it gives them an unfair competitive advantage over those who don't want to risk their health for their career, or it forces people who would not ordinarily do drugs to do them. Just like in sports, I guess.
  36. Meng W. from Toronto, Canada writes: Coffee is the only performance enhancement drug I need, but come to think of it, its not all that chemically different from the real "drugs".

    I don't take drugs because I've been brainwashed to think they are bad, but rationally speaking, if everyone have access to it, and it dosn't harm your health, there's really no ethical code against it, like caffine for example.
  37. r styles from Canada writes: Tim R and Alex T:

    Based on my extensive experience in several premier North American univerisities, here's my opinion: the abuse of drugs for mental boosting is quite low. I wouldn't be surprised if it was less than 20%.

    Tim, I don't see how you can equate drug use with dishonesty and academic fraud.
  38. Tim Rutkevich from Canada writes: r styles from Canada writes: Tim, I don't see how you can equate drug use with dishonesty and academic fraud. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I don't equate them, instead I am establishing that need of instant gratification and disengagement from reality cause drag use, dishonesty and academic fraud. Yes the obvious cases of self destruction that lead into overt cases are very rare. On another hand if you associated with academia look how many people wear with pride the fact that they have not slept more than 6 hours in 5 days. Don't tell me that naturally you can do it without taking 2 weeks vacation after. And those people don't seem to be taking any vacations either.
  39. C J from Canada writes: Tim Rutkevich from Canada writes: ...look how many people wear with pride the fact that they have not slept more than 6 hours in 5 days

    In situations like that, some things have got to give, with or without drugs. Flesh and nerves are not metals and semiconductors.
  40. Ross H from Muskoka, Canada writes: Wow,
    I thought I was gaining an advantage by eating lots of tuna sandwiches during my exam periods!
    I guess I should have been nicer to my pharmacist.

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