Prescription Drugs That Boost Your Brain Power & New Marijuana Facts

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7:00am Segment Info:
You've heard all about the stories of athletes using performance-enhancing drugs.

But now experts say everyday people are turning to prescription drugs to boost brainpower and enhance cognitive performance. From students to stockbrokers and those who work the night shift more and more people are turning to drugs like Ritalin which can help improve concentration and Modanifil, a narcolepsy drug to help stay awake. It's a problem that's growing here in the u-s and abroad.

How widespread is this?

MORE AFTER THE JUMP...

In America studies suggest brain-boosting drug use is rampant. A 2005 survey of more than 10,000 college students found that 4-7% of them had tried ADHD drugs at least once to pull pre-exam all-nighters. At some institutions, more than one in four students said they tried them. We already see this with the take off of "energy" drinks. Lots of people drink those every day to get through the day. This is just an extension of that type of mentality.

In other news, there may be another mumps vaccine.

Scientists are considering a better vaccine or a third shot to prevent another mumps outbreak.

There have been a number of outbreaks in recent years and in those cases, many of the people who got the mumps had already been fully vaccinated which has raised the question, is a more effective mumps vaccine needed? Or should adolescents get a third booster shot to keep the virus at bay? But they're looking at both options.

What's the best way to go, and should we be concerned?

Certainly the fastest way to solve the problem is to distribute booster shots. And that's easy to do. College students are at high risk because they live in dorms, and can spread the virus easily. But you should know that mumps is very rare in the United States there are only 250 to 300 cases a year. But these outbreaks did catch health officials by surprise.

8:00am Segment Info:

A warning for marijuana smokers... You may be getting more than just high.

Health officials say dangerous lead particles have been found in street bags of marijuana and that could lead to lead poisoning. These cases occurred in Germany where doctors noticed a mysterious outbreak of lead poisoning cases. Officials believe dealers purposely added the lead to increase the weight of the bags.

What are some of the symptoms of lead poisoning?

We see thing like abdominal cramps, nausea, fatigue and anemia. But lead poisoning can have serious effects on every part of the body. It can damage the nervous system, it can affect fertility and cause memory and concentration problems. Severe lead poisoning can be fatal. Some of the people in Germany had dangerously high lead levels.

We always hear about superbugs, germs that are resistant to antibiotics. Now scientists are turning to an unlikely partner in that battle.

We often hear about them roaming golf courses in Florida.

But now scientists are catching crocodiles and sampling their blood to try to develop new antibiotics to fight infection. Crocodiles are known for having the ability to heal serious injuries very rapidly and almost never develop infection. Recent studies show alligator blood has strong antibacterial powers. Who knew?

How far along is this research?

Right now they've identified the proteins in alligator blood that fight infection. The next step is to develop a drug that mimics these proteins that can be safely used in people. At this stage they're just testing against bacteria. But eventually they want to develop drugs to fight viruses and fungus as well.