
A Nasal Spray That Was Supposed to Replace Sleep - Hooke
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-nasal-spray-that-was-supposed-to-replace-sleep
======
SamBam
A few years ago there was all this talk about the discovery on the effects of
sleep on the glymphatic system, where the brain is able to flush out metabolic
toxins that build up during the day. [1][2]

I remember one of the things I read was a scientist saying that this might be
one of the, if not the, primary functions of sleep, and that, now that we know
what it was, we might be able to invent drugs that target it and allow the
process to happen without sleep.

This would allow people to remain awake without the fatigue, bleary-
headedness, or risk of death, that might all be caused by these toxins.
(Learning and memory might still be affected if you don't sleep at all, of
course.)

I don't know whether people are still researching that -- it was only fairly
recent after all, so no surprise that we haven't heard much more.

1\. [http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/10/sleep-ultimate-
brainw...](http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/10/sleep-ultimate-brainwasher)
2\. [https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-
sle...](https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-sleep-clears-
brain)

~~~
ue_
I do not support this happening within the current capitalist system. It will
lead to even more exploitation of workers, especially in countries with labour
laws that aren't as strict. It favors workaholics over people with good
balance.

Some may regard this as a silly objection, but arguably worker exploitation is
the largest problem, with the exception of climate change, in the world today.
It is important to consider social effects.

~~~
kahrkunne
Woah calm down there Karl, I'm pretty sure we have a ban on politics here this
month.

~~~
dang
Not a month—originally a week, but we ended it early:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13133855](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13133855)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13131251](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13131251)

While I have you, though, please don't post things like "Whoa calm down there
Karl". That's patronizing and uncivil, and primes the other person to react
negatively. Instead, please post civilly and substantively. Your comment would
be fine without the first sentence (along with an s/month/week/ of course).

~~~
kahrkunne
Alright, duly noted. Still coming to terms with what HN considers "civil" (the
way it's described in the rules definitely doesn't help, and is actually
harmful to understanding what HN considers "civil", IMO)

~~~
dang
I understand the desire for precise definitions, but this is not an area that
admits of one. To propose one would certainly trigger an avalanche of
objections and nitpicking, and even if we got it right I'm doubtful that many
people would take it in. It doesn't seem to work to control a large community
that way. What does seem to work is a body of case by case practice.

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ryanSrich
TL;DR - the drug still exists, but the headlines were highly editorialized.
It's not a sleep replacement, rather a treatment of narcolepsy. Narcoleptic
patients aren't using it because drug companies won't make it. Drug companies
won't make it because there's no money in it.

~~~
johnhenry
1 point by johnhenry 0 minutes ago | parent | edit | delete | on: A Nasal
Spray That Was Supposed to Replace Sleep

I had a teacher who was narcoleptic -- sure it was funny when he would fall
asleep in the middle of class, but when his wife died he wasn't in a position
to take care of all five of his children, so his 17 year old daughter had to
forego her dreams of college in order to take care of her siblings. This
probably isn't the best venue to say this, but it really saddens me when
people's lives are ruined because there isn't a profit in helping them.

~~~
baq
i agree wholeheartedly, but the next comment by boona ("Considering it costs
between $100 million to $1 billion to get a drug approved by the FDA
(depending on the study you look at), I can see why they wouldn't touch it.")
highlights the issue: profit is only an incentive to do it; the initial cost
is there either way and somebody has to cover it. if it's not private
companies, who would that be...?

~~~
gozur88
That's what the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 was all about. In theory companies
have enough incentive to produce these kinds of drugs.

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rudolf0
You can buy some from Ceretropic:
[https://www.ceretropic.com/orexin-a](https://www.ceretropic.com/orexin-a)

(Not affiliated with them in any way. Have used their products before and find
them to be reputable.)

~~~
gwern
Ceretropic only just announced its availability:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/comments/5h1mge/its_here...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/comments/5h1mge/its_here_p21/)
I assume this is why the sudden renewal of interest and a January article on
it showing up on HN...

~~~
jcoffland
You've linked to the wrong reddit. That one is about a substance called P21.

~~~
rudolf0
Orexin is also discussed in that thread. Ceretropic announced the release of
P21 and Orexin at the same time.

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msane
Interesting story, but meta-clickbait.

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agumonkey
Or you could do this simple procedure
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kern](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kern)

