Modafinil - the time-shifting drug

The wonders of pharmacology keep appearing regularly, each new drug seemingly too good to be true. In recent times there have been several killer apps for the drug industry – chemical substances that replace depression with a happy disposition or bolster a flagging sex drive to royal command performance (with encore) levels. Prozac and Viagra provided benefits so compelling they have entered everyday language and have a global following. Now there’s another “drug-most-likely-to-succeed” – this one enables you to stay awake for 40+ hours with close to full mental capacity with few side effects

Modafinil improves memory, and enhances one's mood, alertness and cognitive powers. The drug has a smoother feel than amphetamines and enables the user to stay awake and alert for 40 hours or more. Once the drug wears off, you just have to catch up on some sleep.

Marketed as Provigil ', 'Aletec' and 'Vigicer', Modafinil is a psychostimulant approved by the US Federal Drug Administration for improving wakefulness in patients with excessive sleepiness associated with shift work sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea / hypopnea syndrome and narcolepsy.

Not surprisingly, a drug that enables people to stay awake for 40 hour periods at close to full mental capacity with no real side effects could quickly gain widespread usage as a time-shifting drug. Got a project to do, Particularly, when it is devoid of the jitteriness associated with most drugs commonly used in such circumstance such as dextroamphetamine, cocaine and the world's most popular drug, caffeine.

"Au natural", (without drugs) humans don't deal well with lack of sleep and thanks to our fast-paced lifestyle and ever-increasing job demands, sleep deprivation is a commonplace occurrence in modern culture.

Australian researchers recently found that people who drive after being awake for more than 17 hours performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent (the local blood alcohol limit). Tests the world over have found that sleep deprivation significantly reduces human performance capabilities, coordination, reaction time and judgment.

Twenty four hours without sleep is enough to reduce most humans to half their normal mental capacity and it declines rapidly from that point.

Not surprisingly, the military are showing the most interest in the drug.

A large part of battle fatigue is sleep deprivation. When the military is on the move, almost everybody is required to perform mission-critical tasks way after they should be asleep. From the personnel at command HQ to the soldiers at the front, two or three weeks of activity with just a few hours sleep per day is routine in combat situations.

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