AN EASY WAY OUT?: Scientists have found a pill that can trick the body into thinking it is exercising.
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Good news for couch potatoes. There may be a pill that lets them watch their TV and get their exercise, too—without moving a muscle. Scientists have found a drug that mimics the effects of a workout by, among other things, increasing the body's ability to burn fat.
The study shows the pill can also increase endurance; lab mice that took it ran more than 40 percent longer on a treadmill than their untreated peers.
"It's tricking the muscle into 'believing' it's been exercised daily," says Ronald Evans, a developmental biologist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, in La Jolla, Calif., and co-author of a study published in Cell. "It proves you can have a pharmacologic equivalent to exercise."
In addition to supercharging stamina, the drug, called AICAR, may also be useful in treating debilitating muscular disorders such as muscular dystrophy as well as metabolic diseases such as diabetes, because it also appears to help the body use and remove sugar from the blood more effectively.
Researchers say that AICAR—which is in clinical trials to treat some heart ailments—in essence works by reprogramming muscle, switching it from sugar-burning, fast twitch muscle—which is better for speed and power—into fat-burning, slow-twitch muscle that does not tire as easily.
The key to this transformation is a protein called PPARdelta, which Evan's team previously showed could create so-called high-endurance "marathon mice" if it genetically engineered the animals were genetically engineered to make a lot of it. But, another experimental drug that targeted only PPARdelta had some metabolic benefits, including lowering fatty acids and blood sugar, but it only boosted endurance in mice that were running regularly.
Enter AICAR, which targets a protein called adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK). AMPK is produced when cells need more energy--as they do when we're exercising--and triggers increased levels of PPARdelta. As a result, researchers thought that AICAR could kick off the process inlieu of exercise.
After four weeks of treatment with AICAR, the mice that took it could run on treadmills nearly 1.5 times as long as untreated animals—and without any training.
Sound too good to be true? It may be. Laurie Goodyear, a n associate professor at Harvard Medical School and an investigator at the Harvard-affiliated Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, applauded the findings but says no pill can duplicate all of the benefits that exercise has on the body.
Warning to athletes who think popping the pill might give them a leg up on the competition: Evans has developed urine and blood tests designed to detect the drug—so don't get any ideas.
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19 Comments
Add CommentI don't care what I have to do, I want this pill....I will be the human Test subject just for the love of god let me use this pill!!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't know what this world has gotten into, but has anybody ever thought about the side affects of this pill? I know it's hard to understand, because today's world is all about materialism, people just want more. But seriously, if these couch potatoes want ot be fit. Eat a proper diet and so some exercise, anybody who reads this. I'm assuring you that these people will still have health risks, even if they take this pill. It won't WORK COMPLETLEY for everybody who is obese. Everyone, you know what else I don't understand, listen to this clearly! Why do they create drugs and vaccines for many illnesses, when you are donating constantly to these foundations for ages and still they won't bring out a cure because of money!!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNothing wrong with this drug, maybe it will only used as a supplement for not-professional athletess.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi have severe asthma so the exersize i can do is limited. if there was a drug that made what i can do more benificial, i would try it. the side effects may or may not problematic but life is about chances and it is one im willing to take if there is a possibility it may improve my life. thank you though Mr Joseph Chiappalone for ignoring the fact that not everyone has the ability to do what you suggest. also, if obesity is cut down, it will help cut down the diseases associated with it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCould a pill replace exercise? No.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisReading this made me think about what gene's are changed in the body..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.nextbio.com/b/home/home.nb?q=AICAR&id=888903&type=compound&name=AICAR&synonym=Aicar
The most changed Gene is the GE507662
and is used against Daudi Cells.
To be honest half of this is good and half of it is bad...In the article it said it could be used to treat diabetes...and diseases related to it....that's good because maybe this is a step in curing..we don't know yet....
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis drug...on the other hand is BAD, simply because it could be used as a form of cheating.....and the article DID NOT give any information on the side effects of it..what if it causes your heart to stop?! or something along the lines of severeity? Not only that but NO I repeat NO drug can duplicate the feelings of accomplishment and well being like REAL excercise and good diet can..I am a proud and avid runner who feels this drug is just another excuse for laziness within the human race to occur.......I am not saying that it is ALLL bad, but many people are going to use it recreationally! Not for actual help or treatment for cases such as Diabetes or Muscular dystrophy!
To clarify some things that the lay press has sensationalized. The researchers did not measure: Bone density Cancer Risk (colon/breast) Muscle strength/size (not really done) Muscle wasting Energy expenditure (needs to increase to make you lose weight) Alzheimers risk Blood lipids Diabetes risk All they measured was endurance capacity and some markers of it. Hardly enough to call it an exercise pill considering all the other benefits of exercise.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI've been researching supplements for over 10yrs...took a lot myself. Something liek this will help with muscle growth...but only after you've worked out...even roids don't make muscle grow without stimulation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPS. Are you the Joseph Chiappalone who use to run the Annwn site? if so email me orfeopn@hotmail.com i'd like to chat.
This is Joseph speaking, I've changed my name to Jofez. Athsma is curable, through a healthy diet, no diary products, no artifcial products or sweetners, no artificial preservatives. The fresher, the food, the better, organic is the best. No consumption of alcohol or soft drinks. Consider a naturapath. I always believe that the best cure for any disease is a natural and healthy diet and exercise too because the main cause of disease is bad diet and no exercise.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am almost 50 I have been trying to lose weight for 2 years. I exercise every other day and sometimes every day. The weight just seems to not be comming off. If there is a pill that would help in combination with exercise, I would buy it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am 50 and have tried to lose weight for 2 years. I exercise every other day and some times everyday. I have tried various diets and none seem to work. If there is a pill that will help exercise burn more calories and be more productive then bring it on.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo many people are trying to come up with the "simple" "easy" "no exercise" answer to weight loss and physical conditioning. The secret is no secret, people! Get up off your ass and move and stop eating so bloody much! That is it, how much more simple could it be? Calories in, calories out. Maybe we should allow all of the fat, lazy hogs that sit around on their ever enlarging asses all day and eat enough to feed a province in Africa to simply die off. Shouldn't we be trying to improve the human race rather than coming up with better excuses for being fat and lazy? What we need is a pill that will motivate more piles of human lard to get up and do something besides stuff their enormous faces while they neurotically chant some bullshit "I love me the way I am" rationalization. It isn't complicated! It is just a matter of caring for yourself and your health more than you care where your next dozen �clairs are coming from.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs I understand it muscles assume three states: A neutral state, a fast twitch state, and a slow twitch state. As a person exercises muscles change from the neutral state to a state that is needed. If it changes to a fast twitch then it can change back to the neutral state to be ready to be changed to a state which is needed at a future time. However, if it is in the slow twitch state it will never go back to neutral state. Is there a drug that will change it back from the slow twitch state? If not a person my end up with all slow twitch muscles.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am amazed of everyone who sees exercise as a cure all for everything! They will jump up and criticise a pill for side effects; well what about the side effects of exercise? Such as wear and tear on joints that can lead to arthritis? The tendency of some people to overexercise and cause physical damage to their bodies? What about the time commitments required to go to a gym? What about elderly folks who are physically incapable of exercising? And what about people who are naturally lean without exercise; what kind of biochemical mechanisms make them different from overweight people? Surely if a pill can correct a biochemical imbalance of the body of someone who is obese (such as myself), isn't it our right to judge for ourselves if we'd rather have a pill to control our body weight or exercise to achieve the same effect with minimal time expenditure? I used to exercise and kept my weight under control; I don't exercise anymore because I have developed arthritis in the joints. Nobody told me about that side effect! I humbly submit that those who keep pushing diet and exercise fall into two categories; owners of gyms / major stockholders or naturally lean/thin people who have never experienced what it's like to be overweight, and thus know nothing about the condition.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisChrisJones'comments are unscientific and statistically non-compliant. Stoopi ng down to the level of name calling and making disparaging remarks hardly qualify the comments as intellectual discourse, or provide a basis for proper biomedical discussion that addresses issues such as:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. Could modern food additives, herbicides or pesticides switch on genes that predispose certain people, due to natural selection, to accumulate more body fat?
2. Why are lean/thin people who eat just as much as obese people, remain thin/lean?
I am obese and I do use public transport and walk as much as possible, I don't overeat. So people please quit posting uninformed and ill considered remarks. You are only demonstrating your ignorance of the subject.
All of the ramifications that people talk about are like looking up a a dead horses butt to see what he died of. This drug / supplement if is as advertised can revelutionize the majority fat assed people especially in Amercia. I can sit and tell people all day long that they need to eat right, exercise right and a multitude of other things, but it will never help anyone. We all know the truth about diet and exercise, but they would rather die alittle at a time before doing the right thing. So lets do the right thing a slim down these people and if there is a risk that goes with it then so be it, let them take the responsibility for themselves regardless of there health condition. There killing themselves with food and obesity now anyway.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am puzzled why anyone wants to "bash" this drug, if it makes fat people fitter and fit people super fit what is the problem? Sure it might have side effects but then again so do supersized orders of fries and the FDA has no problem with them. The only people who will have to stay away are sprinters, weight lifers and others who don't want to sacrifice short term power
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisListen to your words. What your saying is right, but the key word here is change. People are not going to change they aren't going to do anything different at all, so they may well create the pill and in doing so give a better quality of life to a lazy fat ass denial people and save the tax payers a ton of money in health care for the obese, which I might add is tied to every other disease known to man. People once they can get down to a weight that allow them to look at themselves in the mirror once again probably will want to exercise to enhance there new appearance. All the conversation in the world is not going to change these people, but if a pill can then leavc well enough alone, and the government needs to step in and make sure the produce is accessable to the public and a decent price and not allow the idiots at supplement companies make crap that doesn't work. So many billions a year are spent on pills that truly don't work, like 95% of then don't work. Thanks
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