"Modafinil was developed with an expectation that a medication could have a nondopaminergic target for its wake-promoting effects," they said. "However, the current findings in humans, along with preclinical studies documenting the indispensable role of dopamine in the wake-promoting effects of modafinil, support modafinil's dopamine-enhancing effects as a mechanism for its therapeutic actions."
"In addition," they reported, "a recent imaging study in anesthetized monkeys documented significant occupancy of dopamine transporters by intravenously administered modafinil."
They also pointed out that "modafinil was shown to be self-administered in monkeys previously trained to self-administer cocaine."
But the potential for abuse is not the only reason why healthy people should not take modafinil or other so-called "smart drugs," Volkow told USA Today. They can have serious adverse effects, such as brief psychotic episodes, she said, and there is little evidence they improve cognition. Modafinil also significantly increased heart rate and systolic blood pressure, the study found.
In the paper, the authors pointed out that there had been previous "debate surrounding its potential for abuse," and cited two examples. The first, was a March 2006 Letter to the Editor, of the American Journal of Psychiatry, from Dr Kruszewski, in response to an August 2005 paper in the Journal, by Dr Charles O'Brien, that claimed modafinil may decrease cocaine use in some cocaine users and specifically stated: "The medication has not been reported to produce euphoria, and there has been no indication of excessive use or abuse in clinical trials."
As the scientific basis for his comments, O'Brien
referenced two studies by his own research group. In his letter, Kruszewski
wrote that, "the author's statement does not appear to be supported by his
referenced work, nor is it supported by information widely available in the
2004 edition of the Physicians' Desk Reference." Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
