Stimulants are being used with increasing frequency by students across college campuses (see ‘Harvard Students: Reaching for drugs to boost brain power). Many of them, however, probably aren’t well aware of the various side effects. In addition to chronic cognitive problems, amphetamines can also induce catastrophic acute events.

An article in the December 2006 issue of Neurology [Reference here] describes a couple of cases of carotid artery dissections following amphetamine use. The carotid arteries are two of the major blood vessels that travel up the neck and supply blood to the brain. When these arteries dissect (tear), strokes often ensue. A stroke is a focal area of permanent brain death due to lack of blood flow.

Cocaine, another sympathomimetic (drug that mimics the effects of sympathetic nervous system stimulation), has also been reported to cause tears in major blood vessels.

It is also important to note that amphetamines and cocaine can also lead to strokes via another mechanism: inflammation of blood vessels in the brain [click here for reference]. The medical term for this process is Vasculitis.

Since the vast majority of strokes are "silent", I suspect the prevalence of strokes due to stimulants is much higher than officially reported or recognized.

As far as more common chronic side effects, an earlier smartkit post details how just 3 months of Ritalin use (an amphetamine) can significantly damage the very blueprint of cell architecture- DNA.

In future posts, I’ll discuss oxidative damage as well as cardiac side effects.

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A new study done by Scott Hemby and colleagues at Wake Forest University of Medicine finds that long term cocaine use leads to “profound changes in brain function”.

Cocaine, Ritalin (amphetamines), and coffee all work differently on the brain, but in the end, they are all stimulants, and they can all induce euphoria by modulating the amount of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
I suspect it’s just a matter of time before research shows that long term consumption of coffee also leads to “profound changes in brain function”.

Will people find this suprising? Will they care enough to modify their consumption?

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Ritalin, Adderall, Strattera, Concerta, Metadate, Dexedrine, Focalin, Cylert, Attenade. All are stimulants used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD). They are also all drugs that have been tried or used by 15-30% of college students to get ahead academically.

Now a new warning about these drugs comes from Health Canada: All of these stimulant drugs can cause psychotic reactions. A psychotic reaction is characterized by one or more of the following:

• Hallucinations
• Paranoia
• Delusions
• Disordered Thought

In March 2006 in the U.S., the FDA learned that as many as 6% of children may develop a psychotic reaction to these drugs- including cases of “hallucinations, both visual and tactile, involving insects, snakes, worms”. There was even a case of a 6 year old boy who started licking the table one day after his treatment started.

Health Canada is therefore mandating that the labels for all the above drugs be changed by December.

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As pharmaceutical companies come out with newer, more effective brain boosting pills (see an earlier post on ampakines), more and more people will be chiming in on the ethics of brain enhancement.

Just came across an article that says the UK’s chief scientific advisor “urges brain pills for all”. The article states that Sir David King has called for a removal of restrictions on “cognitive enhancers”. According to the article, he believes “smart drugs to make people think faster, improve their memory, and reduce tiredness will be commonplace within 20 years.”

Within 20 years? Studies of college students on U.S. campuses already show as many as 25% are using stimulant drugs like Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine to improve their concentration and get better grades.

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A recent Harvard University newspaper article suggests that many Harvard students casually rely on prescription stimulant drugs to get a competitive edge and boost brain power while studying.

The article further suggests that stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin "might be on their way to becoming the new coffee".

I’ve also seen studies that show up to 25-30% of college students in the U.S. are using stimulant drugs to get ahead academically.

Apparently, students are going to health clinics and lying to the doctors there to get their hands on the drugs. They, in turn, pass them out to friends. One student notes: "During exam time, I know I’ve got a steady stream of people who come to me and I don’t turn them away. In my experience I’ve found that if people know it’s available, not a lot is holding them back.

Unfortunately, most students of Generation Rx don’t realize the hidden dangers of amphetamines.

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A new study published in the European Child Adolescent Psychiatry seems to indicate that pine bark extract is effective for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The extract is called Pycnogenol, which is derived from the bark of the French maritime pine.

“The results of this study show Pycnogenol may serve as a safe, effective treatment for children diagnosed with ADHD,” Dr. Peter Rohdewald, coauthor of the study, says. “French maritime pine bark extract reduced hyperactivity among study participants, while improving attention and visual-motor coordination and concentration of these children.”

The study, which evaluated students whose average age was 9.5 years, went on for 1 month.

According to an article written for Medscape Medical News by Dr. Laurie Barclay and Dr. Penny Murata, an earlier report in Mainichi Shimbun indicated a 70% success rate in treating children with ADHD. However, a September 2002 study in the Journal of Attention Disorders found no significant effect for either pine bark extract or methylphenidate (Ritalin) in treating adults with ADHD. A pilot study in 2004 did show, though, that pine bark extract at a dose of 1mg/kg/day improved ADHD symptoms.

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