Insert: Worthwhile Chit Chat Thread

[Specforces]

I WILL fix you Chit Chat, if it's the last thing I ever do.

http://www.wired.com/science/discove...ep_deprivation

Some of you younger people, keep an eye out for this in the next decade or so, this could be an interesting development for the future. I don't know if it'll be a good one or a bad one though, could you imagine a world where no sleep was needed, thus 20 hour workdays would be acceptable?

Article:

In what sounds like a dream for millions of tired coffee drinkers, Darpa-funded scientists might have found a drug that will eliminate sleepiness.

A nasal spray containing a naturally occurring brain hormone called orexin A reversed the effects of sleep deprivation in monkeys, allowing them to perform like well-rested monkeys on cognitive tests. The discovery's first application will probably be in treatment of the severe sleep disorder narcolepsy.

The treatment is "a totally new route for increasing arousal, and the new study shows it to be relatively benign," said Jerome Siegel, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA and a co-author of the paper. "It reduces sleepiness without causing edginess."

Orexin A is a promising candidate to become a "sleep replacement" drug. For decades, stimulants have been used to combat sleepiness, but they can be addictive and often have side effects, including raising blood pressure or causing mood swings. The military, for example, administers amphetamines to pilots flying long distances, and has funded research into new drugs like the stimulant modafinil (.pdf) and orexin A in an effort to help troops stay awake with the fewest side effects.

The monkeys were deprived of sleep for 30 to 36 hours and then given either orexin A or a saline placebo before taking standard cognitive tests. The monkeys given orexin A in a nasal spray scored about the same as alert monkeys, while the saline-control group was severely impaired.

The study, published in the Dec. 26 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, found orexin A not only restored monkeys' cognitive abilities but made their brains look "awake" in PET scans.

Siegel said that orexin A is unique in that it only had an impact on sleepy monkeys, not alert ones, and that it is "specific in reversing the effects of sleepiness" without other impacts on the brain.

Such a product could be widely desired by the more than 70 percent of Americans who the National Sleep Foundation estimates get less than the generally recommended eight hours of sleep per night (.pdf).

The research follows the discovery by Siegel that the absence of orexin A appears to cause narcolepsy. That finding pointed to a major role for the peptide's absence in causing sleepiness. It stood to reason that if the deficit of orexin A makes people sleepy, adding it back into the brain would reduce the effects, said Siegel.

"What we've been doing so far is increasing arousal without dealing with the underlying problem," he said. "If the underlying deficit is a loss of orexin, and it clearly is, then the best treatment would be orexin."

Dr. Michael Twery, director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, said that while research into drugs for sleepiness is "very interesting," he cautioned that the long-term consequences of not sleeping were not well-known.

Both Twery and Siegel noted that it is unclear whether or not treating the brain chemistry behind sleepiness would alleviate the other problems associated with sleep deprivation.

"New research indicates that not getting enough sleep is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders," said Twery.

Still, Siegel said that Americans already recognize that sleepiness is a problem and have long treated it with a variety of stimulants.

"We have to realize that we are already living in a society where we are already self-medicating with caffeine," he said.

He also said that modafinil, which is marketed as Provigil by Cephalon and Alertec in Canada, has become widely used by healthy individuals for managing sleepiness.

"We have these other precedents, and it's not clear that you can't use orexin A temporarily to reduce sleep," said Siegel. "On the other hand, you'd have to be a fool to advocate taking this and reducing sleep as much as possible."

Sleep advocates probably won't have to worry about orexin A reaching drugstore shelves for many years. Any commercial treatment using the substance would need approval from the Food and Drug Administration, which can take more than a decade.

[omgitznpv]

coffee ;_;

[Pumble]

Finally, i can grind my night elf 24/7

[Specforces]

Seriously, WoW levels will have to be raised quite a few more times..... loser.

[DrugstoreCowboy]

"The monkeys given orexin A in a nasal spray scored about the same as alert monkeys, while the saline-control group was severely impaired."


So really, the monkeys on orexin A weren't performing as well as the monkeys that caught some z's. Totally gotta read every word of that article.. It proves that it does compete with sleep, but doesnt succeed it.

[Specforces]

However, they have time for even more development. If they can figure out how the chemical works exactly they'll be able to replicate/increase potency.

Of course, I highly doubt that there won't be any adverse side effects, because upping the production of any naturally occurring chemical in the body generally has a dampening effect on natural production.

[foilman8805]

Why are people so interested in not sleeping?

I'll take my 9 hours a day, thanks.

[DrugstoreCowboy]

Sleep when you're dead? Theres so much to life to experience!

and also, i see it says "long periods of no sleep effects were unknown"... but seriously wouldnt that be kind of bad to not ever sleep again?

[omgitznpv]

Originally Posted by foilman8805

I'll take my 9 hours a day, thanks.

I want my 9 hours back.

[SethSquall]

What is this solving exactly? I mean, I know what it's trying to solve but in my eyes there is no need for this drug. If anything, this will cause more problems than it will solve. Is there really a demand for something stronger than caffeine?

What do people have against sleep anyway? Suffering form insomnia I envy people who are trying to stay awake, when I'm trying to get some bloody sleep.

[Syhto]

Sometimes people need to stay up for long periods of time. I'm thinking that this would be a better sleep alternative than using caffeine from coffee, or those energy drinks. At least that's what I'm getting from the article. All-nighters studying for an important exam? Done. Other than that, I wouldn't have much use for this. I can't see people using this every single day, so that they don't have to sleep at all. Maybe for the occasional few, that see sleeping as a chore. But certainly not in the near future.

Some people won't use this altogether. People just like to sleep.

Dreams, for example. Some can't wait to begin their sleep adventures, while some people can't sleep at all, or fear to, due to nightmares. There are people suffering from insomnia. If they can't sleep, and they've been laying in bed all night, and they're tired, and it's starting to get light outside, I would say that it would be a good idea to use Orexin A, instead of facing the day tired and completely out of it.

[Sullyman2007]

I agree with Seth. This isn't really solving anything, and why is sleep such a bad thing? Heres the way I see it. Sleep is a natural human thing. If you feel you don't have enough time during the day to get everything done, you should probably consider re-organizing.
This will probably cause more problems than its worth anyway.

[omgitznpv]

Originally Posted by Syhto

Sometimes people need to stay up for long periods of time. I'm thinking that this would be a better sleep alternative than using caffeine from coffee, or those energy drinks. At least that's what I'm getting from the article. All-nighters studying for an important exam? Done. Other than that, I wouldn't have much use for this. I can't see people using this every single day, so that they don't have to sleep at all. Maybe for the occasional few, that see sleeping as a chore. But certainly not in the near future.

Some people won't use this altogether. People just like to sleep.

Dreams, for example. Some can't wait to begin their sleep adventures, while some people can't sleep at all, or fear to, due to nightmares. There are people suffering from insomnia. If they can't sleep, and they've been laying in bed all night, and they're tired, and it's starting to get light outside, I would say that it would be a good idea to use Orexin A, instead of facing the day tired and completely out of it.

yes.

I'd be using this constantly, though, because I stay up ridiculously late every school night studying for stuff and doing homework >_>

[mead1]

Originally Posted by DrugstoreCowboy

"The monkeys given orexin A in a nasal spray scored about the same as alert monkeys, while the saline-control group was severely impaired."


So really, the monkeys on orexin A weren't performing as well as the monkeys that caught some z's. Totally gotta read every word of that article.. It proves that it does compete with sleep, but doesnt succeed it.

"about the same" does not necessarily mean the orexin monkeys scored worse. It means their scores were different. It's entirely possible their scores were better. Also, variation within multiple tests of animal reactions is completely normal. To say that the monkeys scored "about the same" means the same thing as "the same" when you take into account the possible differences in ability or intellect between Monkey A and Monkey B.

[Temote]

Originally Posted by Specforces

20 hour workdays

This idea would more depend on the type of work you do. Sure, if you mostly spend the day sitting down, typing away at the computer (or something similar to this relaxed style) it'd be entirely possible, but for people who have jobs such as stocking wares, working out, or anything that requires more active use of muscles, it'd be incredibly dangerous. The researchers should note that the time people spend asleep is also the time when example worker recuperates after only 8 hours on the job. Losing out on sleep would probably speed up the deterioration of said person's body.

[Specforces]

Oh, it most certainly would. But most people obviously don't care too much about deteriorating their bodies. So I'm guessing that a lot of people would be willing to make that sacrifice.

[Afrombean]

Sleep is more than a chemical release in the brain. Chemicals might be able to be used in certain instances, such as how people use coffee or energy drinks to stay up late for things they need to do, but it could never EVER replace sleep.

[Zageron]

This would be a good feature for exams and tests in general. It would allow people, who naturally sleep in, to actually be mentally active during their test.

[TS_SonicMaster]

As said before, I think this should really only be used for those people who require alertness and not feel tired for studying and tests. Those who suffer from insomnia have a good reason to use this chemical too. But for any other situation, others need to deal with being tired because they stay up late, it's their fault they become that way.

[Specforces]

Or hours and hours of gaming.