ResearchSafe

Semax and selank look promising but the clinical evidence is still thin

Posted by cole_p in Cognitive & Nootropic - 1 points, 4 comments.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbEWwvahuuj

Saw this short breakdown going around about semax and selank, the take was basically: interesting neuroscience, not enough human trials yet to call it.

Honestly i agree, and i think a lot of people in this space skip that part too quickly. The BDNF angle and the anxiety stuff sounds great on paper, and a lot of users report noticeable effects, but anecdote is not the same as a proper clinical trial. I wish more posts would be upfront about that instead of acting like its a done deal.

What gets me is we keep seeing the same few rodent studies cited over and over. Are there actually new human trials in the pipeline, or is everyone just restating the same russian work from years ago? Curious what others have seen lately, no?

Comments

  • weekend_experiment: Yeah this hits home for me too, i went down the semax rabbit hole maybe two years back and honestly the only english-language sources were either translations of old russian stuff or forum write-ups that all quoted the same two papers over and over, which is a red flag right? The BDNF stuff is genuinely cool on paper and a couple of work colleagues said they felt sharper on it, though that could just be placebo since they knew what they were taking. I keep waiting for a proper RCT out of europe
  • curious_tracker: Yeah the russian stuff being the bulk of what we got is the real red flag here... Most of those trials were tiny and never replicated outside. Also a work colleague saying they feel sharper when they know what they took is basically the placebo definition lol.
  • cole_p: Haha yeah fair point on the placebo thing, im guilty of that myself honestly. The russian replication gap is what worries me most too, tiny cohorts and then nothing for years. Have you seen anything newer coming out of other groups, or is it still mostly the same old studies making the rounds?
  • cole_p: Yeah, the same two papers thing is exactly what got me too. And honestly the placebo point is fair, if you know youre on something your brain will play tricks on you, right? I had a similar thing where i felt more focused for a week then it just faded and i couldnt tell if it was the peptide or just the novelty wearing off. Did your colleagues stick with it or give up?

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.