Yesterday I blogged about drugs to make you smarter. Now here’s another I’m tempted to try. A treatment for glaucoma, it turns out, also makes your eyelashes grow. Last week an FDA’s expert advisory panel recommended that it be approved for that use.  

The drug, known generically as brimatoprost,  is made by the same company that makes Botox, Allergan Inc. It was first studied to help relieve eye pressure, but then the researchers noticed something totally unexpected: eyelash growth. The company is now seeking U.S. approval to market the new use under the brand name Latisse.

Some of the panelists raised concerns about long-term use and the lack of data on blacks and other minorities. The drug must be applied continuously or lashes will shrink to original size after a few months, according to the company.

Panelists also questioned whether teenagers and other patients might use it inappropriately, although the drug would only be available by prescription. There was no data on patients younger than 18.

The Latisse version will come with an applicator to apply drops on the edge of the eyelid, rather than into the eye as it is for glaucoma. Sales for eyelash growth could fetch more than $500 million globally per year, Allergan has said. Its total revenues were $3.9 billion in 2007.

Sports doping is controversial enough. Well, how about brain doping?

At college campuses, poker tournaments and even orchestra halls use of prescription drugs to boost concentration, relaxation and memory in healthy people is on the rise. A 2005 survey of 10,000 U.S. students found that 4 to 7 percent have used prescription stimulants. On some campuses the rate is as high as 25 percent.

Professors, it seems, use them as well.

And why not?

That’s the question posed in a commentary published Sunday in Nature, the international science and medical journal. The authors, all of them major academic voices in law, medical ethics and health care policy, make the case that healthy adults “should be able to engage in cognitive enhancement using drugs.”

After all, they say, we drink coffee and take Vitamins, which also improve brain function.Why not a pill?

“We should welcome new methods of improving our brain function. In a world in which human work spans and lifespans are increasing, cognitive enhancements tools including pharmacological will be increasingly useful for improved quality of life and extended work productivity.”

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