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It holds the promise of allowing people who suffer from unusual fatigue to remain awake without side-effects or impairment of job performance. However it does not live up to this promise in all cases, occasionally producing rashes, intestinal problems and other side effects. The usual prescription is for one pill to be taken shortly after waking; its effects last for most of the day, but do not usually prevent the person from going to sleep at a normal time.
Dosage varies from once 100 mg/day to twice 200 mg per day (the second about 4 hours after waking), and is more effective on naive users. The half-life in the human body is about 15 hours. Of the many side effects documented in double blind studies only headache was statistically significant at an increase of 5%, however a number of other side effects were about 1% higher than the placebo.
Modafinil's chemical name is 2-[(diphenylmethyl)sulfinyl]acetamide. The molecular formula is C15H15NO2S and the molecular weight is 273.36. Its mechanism of action is unclear, although it does not work directly on dopamine receptors like other stimulant drugs such as amphetamine, caffeine, methylphenidate or cocaine and is thought to have less potential for abuse than other stimulants due to the absence of any significant euphoric or pleasurable effects.
The central stimulating effect of modafinil shows dose and time-related features. The effect tends to be enhanced by chlorination but reduced by methylation. Modafinil blocks the reuptake of noradrenaline by the noradrenergic terminals on sleep-promoting neurons from the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO). Such a mechanism could be at least partially responsible for the wake-promoting effect of modafinil.
On August 3August 3 is the 215th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (216th in leap years), with 150 days remaining. Events 1492 Christopher Columbus sets sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain. 1492 The Jews were expelled from Spain by the Catholic Monarchs., 20042004 is a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 2004 calendar), and has also been designated the: International Year of Rice International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition Elections are to be held in 73 co ten days before the 2004 Summer OlympicsThe Games of the XXVIII Olympiad commonly known as the 2004 Summer Olympics were the 28th Summer Olympic Games. The Games were held in Athens over 17 days, from August 13 to August 29, 2004. Planners expected 10,500 athletes (in fact 11,099 at the end) an, Modafinil was added onto the list of prohibited substances by the World Anti-Doping AgencyThe World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is an independent foundation created through a collective initiative led by the International Olympic Committee. It was set up on November 10, 1999 in Lausanne, Switzerland to coordinate the fight against drugs in sport.
Modafinil was developed by Cephalon who own the Provigil trade mark.