Properties of Hydergine
1. Increases blood flow and glucose utilization in the brain.
2. Indirectly helps decrease free-radical formation.
3. Stimulates the production of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine, which help to maintain attention and alertness (mental arousal, vigilance). These actions may account for hydergine’s activating and mild mood-elevating effects, which occur in some
people.
The Bottom Line on Hydergine
As you may have gathered, I am not a great fan of hydergine, and neither are most physicians these days. I think of it as a mildly activating agent in some cases, without any measurable effect on
memory. The advent of vitamin E, ginkgo biloba, cholinesterase inhibitors, phosphatidylserine, and several other promemory agents has pushed hydergine far into the background. Most physicians have
stopped prescribing hydergine because there are so many other treatment options. If you or someone close to you is on hydergine, note that the standard U.S. prescription dose is 3 mg per day, but in Europe doses of 9 to 12 mg per day are often prescribed without any apparent problems. In a few countries like Mexico, you can get hydergine over-the-counter. Since it is off patent, you can now get cheaper generic products even in the United States. The main advantage is that there are very few side effects with this medication. Nausea, stomach upset, and headache can rarely occur, but these symptoms tend to be mild.
Nootropics: Drugs Meant to Make You Smarter
Nootropics, called ‘‘smart drugs” by some aficionados, refer to a wide range of potential memoryenhancing medications. Over time, the term has become restricted to describe a relatively narrow class of medications. Nootropics were developed with the idea that they would work not only for people with memory disorders but would also improve cognitive performance in normal individuals. The hope was that somehow these medications would help nerve cells sprout and form connections with other nerve cells, but there are no sound experimental data to back this idea.
Piracetam, oxiracetam, aniracetam, and pramiracetam (all derived from pyrrolidone) are the most widely used nootropic compounds.
Taken From: The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss
and Enhance Memory Power
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