A Pill To Forget?

by lisavegas420 10 Replies latest watchtower medical

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  lisavegas420

  I saw a show the other night on 60 Minutes. A drug called 'propranolol' a medication commonly used for high blood pressure, it some how tricks the brain into making a weaker memory of an event that has been traumatic.

  It is suggested that it could be used to change the way accident victims, rape victims, even soldiers remember after they experience trauma. It doesn't erase the fact that it happened. It doesn't erase your memory of it. It makes it easier to remember and function.

  Is this a good thing?

  lisa
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  R.F.

  Haven't heard of it, but the things I would want to know are....

  How can the pill pinpoint a specific event to weaken the memory of it?

  What stops the pill from weakening other memories? Good memories?
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  brinjen

  Sounds more like an easy fix placebo...
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  kwr

  I could use a pill to forget all about my ex-wife.
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  greendawn

  It would be a good thing if it doesn't have any bad side effects, it can do quickly what could otherwise needs many hours of psychiatric help to achieve. Taylor made pills that help specific psychological problems is what this amounts to.
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  ninja

  Ive got the generic brand in liquid form....Guinness
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  brinjen

  Ive got the generic brand in liquid form....Guinness

  Another very nice one on the market, Cougar.
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  nvrgnbk

  Ive got the generic brand in liquid form....Guinness

  I like the Dalwhinnie and Glenfarclas myself ninja.

  The older the better. The more potent the memory erasure.
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  rebel8

  I haven't heard anyone claim that it weakens the memories or makes you forget, just the extreme emotional response when recalling them.
  
  The National Institutes of Health did research with the drug on persons with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (previously called "shell shock)" and they do not seem to be claiming it makes people forget:
  
  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11806863&dopt=Abstract
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  lisavegas420

  Here's from CBS News site: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/22/60minutes/main2205629.shtml

  If I remember correctly, you have a horribly traumatic event, and then have intense fear and helplessness. That intense fear and helplessness stimulates adrenaline. The drug works by blocking adrenaline.

  lisa