"fitness pill" being developed

[Amby 490]

Scientists are moving closer to developing a pill which could deliver some of the benefits of exercise - even for those who do not move a muscle.

The journal Cell reports US researchers now have two possible pills which appear able to build muscle, increase stamina and even burn fat.

In tests, mice were able to run 44% further - suggesting humans may be able to do the same without prior training.

The concept is controversial because of fears they could be misused in sport.

With this in mind, lead researcher Professor Ronald Evans, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Salk Institute in California, has produced a test which will allow the drugs to be detected in the urine and blood of competitors.

He says the drugs could eventually help tackle muscle wasting diseases, or help improve the health benefits of exercise in people at risk of conditions such as diabetes.

Instant endurance

The two drugs, labelled AICAR and GW1516, appear to have an effect on a gene involved in the building and regulation of muscle.

This "master gene" - PPAR-delta - has the ability to control the activity of many other genes - so adjusting it could in theory have a widespread effect on the way the body works.

Genetically altering mice to enhance the activity of the gene led to the development of muscle which was much more likely to burn fat than burn sugar.

It also made "marathon mice" who were able to run much further on a treadmill.

The next step was to produce similar effects using a drug rather than a genetic alteration.

The first version, a pill called GW1516, again produced the "fat burning" effect, but no change on exercise performance until the team started training the mice with long treadmill sessions.

At the end of a series of these, the mice given the drug were running 77% longer than those training without its benefits.

The latest drug, AICAR, goes one step further, finding a different way to act on the same muscle cell mechanism.

This time the mice did not need to train - after just four weeks on the drug, they ran 44% further on their treadmills without any prior exercise

Exercise results

Both versions could one day serve a purpose in humans, said Professor Evans.

"If you like exercise, you like the idea of getting 'more bang for your buck'," he said.

"If you don't like exercise, you love the idea of getting the benefits from a pill," he said.

He said the most obvious potential use was in conditions, such as diabetes, where exercise was a proven benefit.

"Almost no-one gets the recommended 40 minutes to an hour per day of exercise - for these people, if there was a way to mimic exercise, it would make the quality of exercise they do more efficient."

However, Colin Palmer, a professor of pharmacogenetics at the University of Dundee, said that the idea of the drug had proved controversial.

"It's basically a drug that enhances training. The thing that raises eyebrows is the concept of a drug that improves endurance training for sports professionals."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7535770.stm

[IAMX 3,055]

What ever happened to "if you don't get your ### off the couch and exercise, you deserve your McHeartAttack"?

Something about this makes me quite skeptical, as we've heard all of this before about pills, creams, junk food, etc. that help lose weight.

Edited August 1, 2008 by SRVT

[Peikko 1,575]

Not everyone is in the enviable position of able to excercise - and I don't just mean those who are too lazy. A lot of medical conditions make exercise difficult to impossible. I think this is an interesting development.

[Amby 490]

Not everyone is in the enviable position of able to excercise - and I don't just mean those who are too lazy. A lot of medical conditions make exercise difficult to impossible. I think this is an interesting development.

I agree with you

I'm all about fitness and everyone being as healthy as possible. Something like this could make it possible for people who have medical conditions.

eta: If this were to happen I would hope it would be reserved only for people who are suffering from problems like that.

Edited August 1, 2008 by Amby

[IAMX 3,055]

Then how would a pill suddenly make people lose weight? Those who can't exercise need something else like surgery.

What I elude to is this is one mere example of how drugs are not being used to cure things, but used to make people more dependent upon drugs rather than actually work harder. Those who are truly obese because of genetics.. a pill won't do enough.

Then again, I should be a salesman for one of these. It's probably gonna make someone billions.

Edited August 1, 2008 by SRVT

[one...two...tree 2,762]

This has become the era of the magic pill.

[IAMX 3,055]

This has become the era of the magic pill.

Which the only accomplishment it's made is having one's wallet lose weight, if anything.

[Peikko 1,575]

There should not be a pill for every ill but I like the idea of this, even though the science illudes me.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

This has become the era of the magic pill.

Which the only accomplishment it's made is having one's wallet lose weight, if anything.

Yep.

[Peikko 1,575]

Jabber is very unenlightened today

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Jabber is very unenlightened today

What do you mean?

[Peikko 1,575]

Enlightened = progressive. You are showing your 'progress is evil' side today

[HAL 9000 96]

Not everyone is in the enviable position of able to excercise - and I don't just mean those who are too lazy. A lot of medical conditions make exercise difficult to impossible. I think this is an interesting development.

I agree with you

I'm all about fitness and everyone being as healthy as possible. Something like this could make it possible for people who have medical conditions.

eta: If this were to happen I would hope it would be reserved only for people who are suffering from problems like that.

I highly doubt this would happen in a nation where off label use is an unregulated phenomenon, for the most part.

Nevertheless, this is a drug-driven transcription factor mechanism. Fascinating but potentially dangerous.

[HAL 9000 96]

There should not be a pill for every ill but I like the idea of this, even though the science illudes me.

The gist of it would be that the drug acts on the ability of a transcription factor to "turn on" a gene of interest.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

There should not be a pill for every ill but I like the idea of this, even though the science illudes me.

The gist of it would be that the drug acts on the ability of a transcription factor to "turn on" a gene of interest.

It does sound dodgy... What if this happens...