Exercise In A Pill?

Experimental Compound Boosts Endurance In Lab Tests On Idle Mice

(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.

[redbds]

If this pill comes out I will exercise every day. Too bad it only improves endurance.

[ender18-2009]

Rather than exercise, we would rather take a foreign substance that may affect our health. Instead of taking pills, maybe we should just exercise more.

[honestabe8]

It may boost your endurance, but will it give you the endorphin rush of exercise? Or is there another chemical for that?

[sistatee-2009]

Put the pill in a Big Mac, and wash it all down with a chocolate shake. Extra salt on those fries, please. Yup, nothin'' beats exercise.

[dbstevens]

Good grief, what are we turning into as a human race?

[drivelphobe]

Go big pharma. There is no end to the medical community''s arrogance. Of course this will be covered by medicaid and private insurance to be prescribed simultaneously with Cialis, Viagra and Levitra so the fatal and dreaded Priapism can take one out in a rush of blood to the ***.

Our premiums and taxes are going up for this.

[sociald63]

yep - this pill will make a mans wee-wee shrink

[stn_sage]

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. (fm article)
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Please note:
1. Isn''t it just a bit of a case of ''putting the cart in front of the horse'' here?! The drugs haven''t been tested, they''re not on the market, BUT they''re making screening tests for them?! C''MON!

2. Surely, through testing they''ll change the ingredients before taking it to market!

3. When they get something that works, is safe, and is reasonably priced, I''ll buy some! :)

[stn_sage]

yep - this pill will make a mans wee-wee shrink

Posted by sociald63 at 06:42 PM : Jul 31, 2008
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YIKES! If it does that, sales will be ''limp''!

But they should then make it mandatory for over-sexed people to have to take---like Bill Clinton and the Republican senators in Congress!

[sociald63]

im gonna put on my $110.00 adidas running shoes and swallow this "exercise pill"

[beanathlete]

For the latest, inside news on action and Olympic sports, go to online magazine Adventure Sports Weekly. They have cutting edge workouts and training articles, to bring out the athlete in you! You don''t even need to type adventuresportsweekly.com - just search the three words: Adventure Sports Weekly.

[lloydbest1]

"One day they''re going to have ''the plumbing pill''.. ''the mathematician pill''.. ''the pilot pill''.. ''the gynocologist pill''". Posted by donnie1301 at 06:35 PM : Jul 31, 2008

As well as the "liberal pill", "conservative pill", "Straight pill", "g@y pill", "Christian pill", "Atheist pill"....Hoo boy, we could keep going with this nearly forever couldn''t we?
Yeah, You''re probably right. And what''s so sad is....you and I both will live to see it.

[haoli25]

I''ll take an exercise pill and a viagra and just lay back and let it happen!!!!!!

[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!

[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

[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

[rytom64]

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

[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.

[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...

[commonsense0]

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

[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.

[rservicer]

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