Cambridge professor calls for healthy adults to use Ritalin 'to boost brain power'

Healthy adults could benefit from taking Ritalin to boost their brainpower, say academics.

They called for the controversial anti-hyperactivity drug to be made widely available to improve memory and attention in the workplace.

The Alzheimer's drug Aricept is among others which could bring huge benefits to healthy adults ranging from factory workers to surgeons, said Professor Barbara Sahakian, of Cambridge University, and six other academics.

Boost: Research has shown students are already using brain-enhancing drugs such as Modafinil (right)

The drugs, which have side-effects varying from appetite loss to heart problems, should be seen as no different to a good night's sleep or the latest laptop as aids to staying on top of the hectic working day, they said. We should 'welcome' new ways of boosting brainpower.

The views will horrify those who believe such performance-enhancing drugs can be dangerous, and raise concern that they will be seen as an endorsement from the medical world.

Ritalin and similar drugs have been linked to 12 deaths in the UK. Some victims died of heart problems, others of strokes, tumours or swelling of the brain.

Three of the deaths were suicides.

Writing in the journal Nature, the academics argue that the prescription-only drugs are already increasingly being used to enhance memory, attention span and wakefulness.

Studies show that up to a quarter of students at some U.S. universities have used them in the past year, while in Britain, doctors have warned that pushyparents are using internet-bought drugs to boost their children's exam performance.

The academics said that although more research was needed into the use of the drugs on healthy people, cognitive 'enhancement' should not be viewed as a 'dirty word'.

The authors believe it would be wrong to dismiss the use of the drugs on the grounds they are unnatural.

They said: 'The lives of almost all human beings are deeply unnatural; our homes, our

clothes and our food - to say nothing of the medical care we enjoy - bear little relation to our "natural" state.

'Given the many cognitive-enhancing tools we accept already, from writing to laptop computers, why draw the line here?'

But others cautioned about the health risks associated with the drugs.

Dr Tim Kendall, a consultant psychiatrist from Sheffield, said healthy adults taking Ritalin would be misusing the drug.

He said: 'I would ask, do they want to take the risks this drug has simply to help them get through a long day at work?'

Dr Sami Timimi, a consultant psychiatrist in Lincolnshire, said: 'Just as we are comfortable with using surgery to enhance appearance, we are starting to drift towards using drugs to enhance living experiences.'

Professor Sahakian said healthy adults should not take Ritalin and other 'smart drugs' until their long-term safety has been proved.

She said: 'The major reason for writing this paper is to call on the regulatory authorities to allow pharmaceutical companies to market cognitive enhancers to adults, provided they have provided the necessary data on safety and efficacy.

'It would be much safer if people were able to access these drugs through the normal means than to buy them off the internet.'