Posted 05 August 2010 - 05:36 AM
I'm immensely intrigued with Cerebrolysin's potential for arresting pathological cognitive deterioration and enhancing measures of cognition in normal subjects, but there are a few problems that diminish my enthusiasm. First, given the voracious appetite that the pharmaceutical industry has for drugs that hold the promise of improving clinical outcomes of conditions with a poor prognosis, I'm surprised that very few have seized the opportunity to test, develop, and market the drug. This leads me to believe that Cerebrolysin might have some limitations that has not become evident to users, distributors, and interested parties. Furthermore, is anyone else troubled by the near Russian monopoly on scholarship? To be sure, Russian scholarship has progressed considerably since the fall of the Soviet Union, but from my experience and readings, certain practices have continued unabated in some sectors: the manipulation of methodology to strongly favor a positive outcome, an exaggeration of study outcomes, and blatant fabrication. This unfortunate deviation from standards of scholarship was born from intense governmental pressure to produce positive findings that exceeded the potential of the research of their Western counterparts, and conformed with the sometimes insane beliefs of party officials. In instances of state sponsored research, this remains to be a serious problem, because some of the same dynamics are still at play. Since researchers from other states have replicated some findings, perhaps my caution is unwarranted. But, enthusiasm and bias can be infectious, and say what you want about Cerebrolysin, but research interest in the United States has been pretty tepid.
However, there is one Russian drug in development that might be worthy of our enthusiasm---even though it has failed in recent Alzheimer's clinical trials. That drug is Latrepiridine, or more popularly known by the trade name of Dimebon. This drug has attracted my interest because I---like many of us---endeavor to optimize my cognitive abilities through diet, lifestyle, and supplementation. And am willing to sometimes undertake risks---that deter the average person---in pursuit of that goal. Although I have no cognitive complaints that would trouble the average person, this drug has a certain captivating allure; and because I've found a reputable source, I'm interested in incurring the financial and potential health costs of experimentation next month. The source is Life Extension Drugs, which is a company that I used for procuring some Ondansetron, which is another drug with considerable potential for cognitive enhancement, but has greater personal appeal as an antiemetic. Based on previous positions I've taken on this forum, I realize that my actions might render me a hypocrite, but I care little, since my thinking on the importation of drugs has evolved somewhat. Indeed, my previous strident stance has been replaced by a more ardent desire to maximize my earning potential, and out-perform my colleagues by as much as possible---even though there is no real animus between any of us. Anybody familiar with organizational behavior and politics, and the power of the human ego, though, may share my sentiments. The price, unfortunately, may be too prohibitive for most to contemplate---and I would take no solace from anybody else incurring the same costs---but since this drug possesses the real potential to provide significant benefits to many that have been on fruitless searches for a panacea drug or supplement, I thought I might as well mention it in a thread devoted to another noteworthy drug of Russian origin.
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