Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified two signaling pathways that are activated in response to exercise and converge to dramatically increase endurance. The team of scientists report that simultaneously triggering both pathways with oral drugs turned laboratory mice into long-distance runners and conferred many of exercise’s other benefits.
In addition to their allure for endurance athletes, drugs that mimic the effects of exercise have therapeutic potential in treating certain muscle diseases, such as wasting and frailty, hospital patients unable to exercise, veterans and others with disabilities as well as obesity and a slew of associated metabolic disorders where exercise is known to be beneficial.
Previous work with genetically engineered mice in the Evans lab had revealed that permanently activating a genetic switch known as PPAR delta turned mice into indefatigable marathon runners. In addition to their super-endurance, the altered mice were resistant to weight gain, even when fed a high-fat diet that caused obesity in ordinary mice. On top of their lean and mean physique, their response to insulin improved, lowering levels of circulating glucose…Then came the ultimate couch potato experiment. The researchers fed untrained mice AICAR, a synthetic AMP analog that directly activates AMPK. After only four weeks and without any prior training, these mice got up and ran 44 percent longer than untreated, untrained mice. “That’s as much improvement as we get with regular exercise,” says Narkar.
The research team is also smart enough to initiate parallel development of tests to detect these drugs – to stop drug cheats from using them in sport.
I kind of hope that drug cheats use them in a sport. That way we’ll have a variety of clinical human trials far earlier…
sign my fat ass up!
If this isn’t yet enough evidence that most of this taxpayer subsidized research is full of crap, I don’t know what is. Take the money these guys get from the government and put it in gas tanks where it can do some good.
I think this will be a solution for a lot of people, and in 30-40 years it will turn out to not be worth it. Exercise benefits the muscles, the bones, arteries and heart, lungs, etc. This drug undoubtably causes some of the beneficial effects of exercise (i.e. fat conversion into energy) but I doubt it can cover the entire field of benefits as real exercise does. Simply put, the bones will not be tensed, the heart rate will not be raised, the lungs will not be expanded through use, etc.
If this isn’t the epitomy of our age, I don’t know what is. We want everything with no pain, and immediately.
Consider the dumbness of getting into your car to go 10 miles to a gym to pay to go on a walking machine. Then go home shower and change, and again get in your car again to go (20 minute walking) to buy something. The problem is not in not exercising, but in the demented way we think! If we cannot commercialize and charge for something, then it is not “good.”
Why not just get out and walk like a long time ago before everything was automobile oriented? We have “labor saving devices” which take away the need for hard physical labor, and then we go to the gym.
Ethical Issue: suppose an athlete is badly injured, perhaps in training, or maybe a car wreck. Lance Armstrong’s battle with cancer would be a similar case.
Suppose this drug helps the athlete heal more quickly after treatment (sounds likely), and a side effect is increased endurance. Does he/she have to stay out of athletics forever, or just for some short period of time?
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This is news that just proves how damn lazy we are as Americans.
It would compliment this real well
I have two broken feet… I need this drug.
Well good for you! You’re going to use the drug as originally intended.
I am saying that without exercise, why bother taking the pill at all? It improves endurance, it would certainly help with stamina problems (since the endurance thing kinda ties into that), you can run for another hour with your bulbous, out of shape ass.
I find shame when people use this drug simply to continue sitting on that fat, bulbous ass. Still, gold stars to you sir for using this drug AS INTENDED.
Why would using this drug be considered “cheating” in a sporting event?
It improves your endurance and helps you exercise – but does it make you faster? Real performance increases come from putting in the extra effort, plus some natural ability.
I can run a marathon – in 4 hours. The winner will run it in 2+ hours. I can take all the legal supplements in the world, plus these new drugs, and I will won’t run that fast.
If they discovered that certain combinations of natural foods produces the same effect – would they ban the use of these foods?
to Brandon Bachman
that is exactly what i intend to do with. sit on my fat ass take these pills and look like a model
GOD BLESS THE U.S. of A.!!1!!!1
ha, but really i don’t have a problem with this. what is the purpose of science if not to improve our lives?
I can’t run a marathon, period. My 2 arthritic knees and ruptured lumbar disk prevent that, on a permanent basis. I can walk 4 miles a day, but can’t keep that up for more than a week due to similar problems. The recommended amount of daily exercise to maintain a baseline level of health is now up to about an hour a day, which is more than many can do no matter how hard they try. A drug or diet supplement that would increase the amount of energy my muscles burn by just a small % would make a huge difference for my health.
Everybody, please think outside of your mental boxes.
“even when fed a high-fat diet that caused obesity in ordinary mice”. I am surprised that the Atkins and the anti-Atkins folks have not commented.
I am about to go walk three miles. When I get done my feet will hurt.
I don’t have the time to and maybe the money to got to the gym.
I’m reaching a point in my life when working out means doing it sloowly and trying to be careful so I don’t do more harm than good.
If a pill can help me not fall apart thanks a million.
Take six pills and call me in Beijing.
Nope, it can’t be that easy, reality sucks waaaay too much for this to be true.
Why did the term “super soldier” spring to mind when I read this article? Who exactly was funding this research? Bet any money it came from the Army (perhaps via a cover Fed department). This could be the military’s solution to all those pudgy kids in school, who aren’t fit enough to draft (eh, enlist). Start feeding them the pill in High School, along with their other mandatory drugs and inoculations. And the enlisted soldiers WILL be required to take it, if it’s deemed to “improve” their health in the slightest. Even is it’s not generally approved for the public. I was in the service when they forced us to get the Swine Flu shots. Even though nobody ever contracted it, in the whole US. After the military had dumped enough doses on the enlisted (officers were often exempt), and we had our share of ignored reactions. The government got brave enough to offer it to the public. A few bad reactions among the elderly and it was pulled from the market. Too bad us guinea pigs of the military weren’t paid any heed to. Besides doing our real jobs, for very meager wages, we apparently had signed up to be pawns of the medical industry. Look for this pill to show up there first, in some renamed form, as “fat boy” therapy. Then eventually, in the schools (pre-soldier boy therapy). Maybe it won’t lead to super soldiers, but it could be the next solution to the “4-F” problem of recruitment.
The reliance on quick-fixes and pill-popping culture in the first world today are really getting out of hand. Long ago, people did not swallow pills and hardly suffered from degenerative diseases. Exercise in a pill? Oh man.. What next?
Sorry to disagree but I still believe in physical exercise. Keeping physically active can prevent major illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and colon cancer. Physical activity can prevent many major illnesses. Evidence shows that regular exercise can promote healthy blood sugar levels to prevent or control diabetes promote bone density to protect against osteoporosis, reduce the overall risk of cancer, increase levels of HDL or “good” cholesterol -reducing the risk of developing heart disease, lower high blood pressure-reducing the risk of developing heart disease, boost the immune system, and boost self-confidence and help prevent depression. It’s possible to achieve your 30 minutes at least five times a week target by making fairly simple changes to your everyday routine – without joining the gym or running a marathon.