Exercise In A Pill?

(WebMD)  It may be possible to make a pill that captures the endurance-boosting effects of exercise, scientists report in Cell.

So far, they've tested two compounds in lab tests in mice. One of those compounds, called GW1516, boosted endurance in mice that exercised, but not in sedentary mice. The other compound, called AICAR, improved endurance in mice that didn't exercise at all.

Those compounds haven't yet been tested in people, and they're not on the market. But the researchers are already working on a drug test to screen for traces of GW1516 and AICAR in athletes' blood and urine.

Here's a quick look at the two compounds.

Back in 2004, the researchers -- who included professor Ronald M. Evans, PhD, of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in La Jolla, Calif. -- reported that they boosted endurance in mice by tweaking a mouse gene to boost the activity of a protein called PPAR-delta.

Evans' team then worked on getting the same result without genetic engineering. They squirted GW1516, which boosts PPAR-delta, into mice's mouths every day for a month.

At the end of the month, the mice ran 68% longer and 70% farther than when the experiment began -- but only if they had been running on exercise wheels daily while taking the drug. GW1516 didn't do anything for mice that weren't exercising.

Next, the scientists focused on another protein called AMPK. They gave sedentary mice a daily injection of AICAR, which boosts AMPK, for a month.

At the end of the month, those mice ran 23% longer and 44% farther than before starting AICAR treatment. That is, their endurance had improved without working out.

The results show that AMPK and PPAR-delta "can be targeted by orally active drugs to enhance training or even to increase endurance without exercise," write the researchers.

The mouse tests were all about skeletal muscles and endurance, not about the drugs' safety or ability to mimic the many other benefits of exercise, such as improving cardiovascular health and making some types of cancer less likely.

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved

[peTeach]

So this is what our society has come to. We are so lazy that we can't spend the time and exert the effort to build up our endurance. Get off your back side and put in the work. It's easier and cheaper than spending the money on developing a pill.

[rservicer]

Caloric Intake is 1400 a day
Just FYI. in Responce to
----------------
Perhaps you should reduce your caloric intake to match your energy level.

[displeased]

my Body was that of a construction worker at 5''''10" 190lb at age 48
now it is a pot bellied old man, so the benefits on this are clear, and I wish I had this now
Posted by rservicer

Perhaps you should reduce your caloric intake to match your energy level.

[commonsense0]

AICAR impairs long term memory.
Checkout www.pubmed.com search AICAR and memory.

[txgrouch2006]

In the 1939 Olympics, the Nazis gave this kind of stuff to a woman runner. She won the gold medal. If you watch the newsreel footage of her running, her legs are a blur.

It''s called "speed." It''s illegal now.

Talk about mad scientists...

[johngoodnews]

Maybe I missed something here, but this new pill is different in effect than human growth hormone and anabolic steroids in what respect? So, Congress is going to outlaw HGH and Steroids and these guys are going to get FDA approval for an "exercise" enhancement pill. Yeah. I think I get it now: you can''t patent HGH or Steroids, but you can patent this one. Yeah. I get it. I really dislike the Pharm companies. They''re such profit monkeys.

[rytom64]

Great for people with disabilities. But otherwise, it''s mainly for lazy people.

[hypnotoad72]

Cool! Now if only they''d make an o r g a s m in a pill. Viagra only starts the process, but people really want the complete experience... :-S

[mutnauq4842]

Hypno,

if you're just tool lazy to jurk off, why don't you get married? You should do the math first and see which is cheaper buying the "cow" or going to the doctor to get the pill.

[rservicer]

The benefits here are clear, and there is no need for stupid postings
I wish this was available now
I am a 56 year old Male and a above the knee amputee, due to an construction fall accident
with both legs broken and hospitalized for 8 months on my back, my metabolism was totally broken
this has left me unable to exercise and I have gained 65lb in the 8 years since,
I have a AK prosthetic leg , which is painful. my right leg did heal
my Body was that of a construction worker at 5''10" 190lb at age 48
now it is a pot bellied old man, so the benefits on this are clear, and I wish I had this now

[prelgovisk]

This proves that if you are sedentary and someone chases you around a cage, grabs you and squirts stuff in your mouth, you will get some exercise benefit!