My doctor says i need a nootropic drug. What is this drug?

In the last decade newer anti aging drugs have been developed called nootropics. In truth, every single of this class of drugs is junk and has serious side effects.

The manufacturers who make nootropic drugs claim that these drugs can make the brain young and improve many brain functions. The nootropics have been designed to help individuals who have Alzheimer’s dementia. In Alzheimer’s dementia, there is progressive loss of cognition, thinking, speaking and a variety of behavior problems. The cause of Alzheimer’s is not known but it does get worse with time.

Since Alzheimer’s is a disorder of aging, a lot of research is directed anti aging therapies. Presently two classes of drugs are used to treat Alzheimer’s- cholinesterase inhibitors and partial glutamate antagonists. Neither class of drugs has been shown to significantly affect the progression of disease. In addition, many studies indicate that the drugs are no better than placebo but they are also quite toxic and many patients do not tolerate them well.

In the last decade, nootropics or smart drugs (brain enhancers) have been widely touted to have anti aging and delay or reverse Alzheimer’s dementia. Nootropic essentially means –bending or changing of the mind. These new drugs are thought to work by altering or changing the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain and improve the brain's ability to stimulate nerve growth. While the manufacturers of these drugs have hyped up claims about these drugs for Alzheimer patients, there are in fact no clinical trials which demonstrate their benefits.

The Nootropic drugs are sold all over cyberspace and in many retail health food stores. Some of the drugs include piracetam, aniracetam, and oxirecetam. The manufacturers claim that animal work does reveal that these drugs improve memory. Perhaps it is lack of clinical research which has contributed to our ignorance about these drugs, or they may only work in rats. Whether these pills can reverse aging or any signs of dementia is anyone’s guess. The price of these tablets ranges from $40-$80 for 60 tablets.

Final point: The more pills you take, the greater the chance that you will end up with a serious side effect. If your doctor says you need this drug, then you need to change your doctor as there is zero evidence that these drugs do any good for your brain. Nootropics drugs are best left for people who believe that there is a cure for all health problems in a pill.