Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Robert J. Berger [rberger () ibd com]
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 10:16 PM
To: Dewayne Hendricks; David Farber
Subject: Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep

Yet another drug on the horizon that would be one more step in
changing society in ways we can not predict - Rob

Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep
By Alexis Madrigal12.28.07 | 12:00 AM
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/12/sleep_deprivation

A nasal spray of a key brain hormone cures sleepiness in sleep-
deprived monkeys. With no apparent side effects, the hormone might be
a promising sleep-replacement drug.
Photo: Flickr/Mayr
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," saidJerome 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

<snip>

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Robert J. Berger - Internet Bandwidth Development, LLC.
Voice: 408-838-8896 eFax: +1-408-490-2868
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