Comment · Thu, March 14, 2013 · Ceretropic
What's the deal with piracetam?
Original post in this thread
[deleted] · 17 points
I started taking piracetam after reading (here) that the compound is well studied, with plenty of papers backing up its psychoactive effects, both from a theoretical and clinical basis.
Recently, posts involving piracetam seem to receive walls of comments claiming the chemical is only a placebo. Now I'm confused. I obviously don't want to spend money on a useless powder, but I understand I cannot evaluate the compound's effect on myself. For a drug whose primary supposed benefit concerns only the mind, the placebo effect is indistinguishable by definition.
So I'm not asking if piracetam works or not, and I'm not asking for more anecdotes. I just want to know what we know. What clinical trials support or oppose piracetam's effect as a nootropic? Do we even know for sure that the compound is psychoactive? To what extent are the FAQ recommendations based on clinical studies, and to what extent do they stem from (placebo-laden) personal accounts?
What they were answering
Auzie · 5 points
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic
>The results in this study point to a beneficial effect of piracetam on mental performance
in aging, non-deteriorated subjects. It must be emphasized that although
the effects were statistically significant, the size of the effects in each
individual case was moderate.