The brain may be about to have its Ozempic moment

andsoitis 103 points 152 comments August 11, 2026
economist.com · View on Hacker News

Discussion Highlights (20 comments)

Rzor

https://archive.is/WoHuY

whyleyc

https://archive.is/WoHuY

awestroke

Title implies people will flock to a pill that makes them shed gray matter

Liftyee

Sleep is Lindy... obesity and constant wakefulness are not. The sad fact is that people will be pressured into taking this. E: Lindy was probably the wrong term. But still, it's like Chesterton's fence. We are far from fully understanding human biology... and deleting sleep will lead to unknown effects. All power to those who try, I guess.

nemomarx

I feel like I'd want the opposite of this - something that mimics the cleaning process of sleep that you could use in the afternoon for a nap or etc.

hoppp

It sounds to me like something that's quite dangerious. Maybe it helps people with narcolepsy but maybe it will be another thing people abuse like amphetamines?

OutOfHere

Previous post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49206165

egypturnash

Consider: Beggars in Spain. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68333.Beggars_in_Spain

croisillon

The brain may be about to have its Algernon moment FTFY

petercooper

Not to take away from the broader point, but modafinil is lumped in with methylphenidate as a stimulant that "increase[s] the activity of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine" . Modafinil does also stimulate the orexin system and is part of why it's so effective for wakefulness and not as a stimulant in the medium/long-term.

Gooblebrai

What has anything in this article to do with Ozempic? Is mentioned in the title once and never again. Engagement bait?

margorczynski

Isn't the problem with lack of sleep (and what causes death with enough deprivation) oxydation that happens in the gut and spreads to the organs? If I'm not mistaken there was an experiment using fruit flies where they fed them antioxidants and that made them not die from lack of sleep.

midtake

The article is about modulating orexins in the brain. Orexin receptor agonism was thought to be a mechanism of modafinil/armodafinil but this isn't mentioned anywhere in the article. Modafinil is mentioned as a mere stimulant. It sort of makes me want to dismiss the article as manufactured hype for a new class of modafinil successors.

barapa

Every conceivable thing 'may be about to' happen.

Melatonic

I think the real question with Ozempic is.....why are so many people's bodies not producing enough natural GLP-1 in the first place? Ozempic is for sure a miracle for some who really need it but for many I think they would be better off by solving that problem at the source (likely gut bacteria based and consuming a better mix of prebiotic fibers). Increase your natural levels of GLP-1

Fraterkes

As an aside, are there any habitual modafinil takers here? I had a period in college where I took it very rarely when I had to cram. Worked pretty well.

d2kx

Modafinil has been a lifesaver for me for over a decade, but always great to have more options for medium ADHD.

semiquaver

> Orexins are made by a small number of neurons in the hypothalamus, a brain region tucked behind the eyes. I didn’t know that “neurons” themselves could make peptides, or anything really. Is this accurate terminology or a shorthand?

daquisu

Related: - Ozempic For Sleep https://www.isaak.net/sleepless/ (November 2024) It is the same author from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41742432 He recently founded https://capable.com , also related

MarkusQ

For a minute I thought they'd found a cure for fatheads.

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