Heart Disease Pill Reduces Racial Feeling

Researchers have discovered that a common heart disease pill does not only lower blood pressure but also reduces racial feeling.

Oxford University researchers have discovered that the heart disease pill propranolol can actually reduce racism.

Researchers had conducted an experiment on two groups of people. The first group that comprised 18 people was given some dose of propranolol drug whereas the other group was given placebo.

Researchers had then asked the volunteers to sort pictures of black and white faces into categories along with positive and negative words, such as "happy" and "sad." They found that the group of people who took propranolol showed lower "implicit" racist feelings, meaning they appeared less racist on a subconscious level, according to the New York Daily News.

"Such research raises the tantalising possibility that our unconscious racial attitudes could be modulated using drugs, a possibility that requires careful ethical analysis," said Julian Savulescu, professor at the Oxford University.

"Many people with medical conditions are probably already on drugs which affect subconscious bias and more research is needed into how drugs which affect our nervous system affect our moral attitudes and practices," said Sylvia Terbeck, experimental psychologist at Oxford University.