A Class 10 student from Lucknow who was preparing for Board exams had to undergo major brain surgery for a clot after she collapsed one evening due to drug overdose. She had been taking ‘anti-sleep’ medicine for a long time that led her nerves to swell and ultimately landed her up on the hospital bed.
As CBSE board exams are ongoing many students are resorting to staying awake late in the night to study and have altered their sleep cycle extremely. These students have complemented their night waking with increased caffeine intake in the form of tea or coffee along with intake of several anti-sleep drugs. This lifestyle has been adversely affecting their health and the legality of dispensation of these drugs still remains an issue.
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In the recent incident mentioned above the girl had been staying up all night preparing for her board examinations while her mother used to provide her with steaming cups of coffee to help her stay awake.
One evening, the girl fainted after which she was hospitalised due to a brain clot. On discovering a bottle full of pills in her drawer, her parents handed it over to the doctor. The medics informed them that the girl had been taking these anti-sleep pills.
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A leading neurosurgeon, Dr Sharad Srivastava said, “Shocking though it may sound, an increasing number of students, today, are taking these anti-sleep pills that help them stay awake during examinations. These drugs are being sold over the counters with names like ‘chuniya’ and ‘meethi’ and are being smuggled from countries like Bangkok, according to the doctor.
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He added, “This is a very dangerous trend and the drugs are being smuggled in from countries like Bangkok. These drugs can have dangerous side effects, especially if taken with an overdose of caffeine — too many cups of coffee — as it happened in this case,” reported IANS.
Another doctor informed that these are variants of Modafinil sold under the brand name Provigil that is said to improve memory, enhance one’s mood, alertness and cognitive powers. These drugs can make a person stay awake and alert for 40 hours or more at a stretch and have a smoother feel than amphetamines. However, once the effect of the drug wears off, the drug taker must catch up on sleep to combat the adverse effects of sleep deprivation.
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A well-known psychiatrist claimed that the increasing trend of these anti-sleep pills during exams was a result of growing stress and peer pressure.
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A chemist noted that the sale of anti-sleep pills, and memory enhancers has shot up during the past one month, “Customers are ready to pay any amount for these drugs. They also buy energy drinks to ward off fatigue,” reported IANS.
Modafinil is mainly used in the treatment of disorders such as narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, idiopathic hypersomnia and excessive daytime sleepiness associated with obstructive sleep apnea.
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Published: 19 Feb 2024, 01:32 PM IST