Scientists Develop Two Drugs That Mimic Effect of Exercise
By Jane St. Clair
Someday you may be able to take a pill that will give you the same benefits as exercising.
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences in La Jolla, Calif., are experimenting with two drugs that enable sedentary mice to improve their running endurance by 44 percent. The mice that were already exercising improved endurance by 70 percent after taking the drugs. The complete study appears in the journal Cell.
Dr. Ronald Evans, chief researcher, explained that mice are very good at running, but when they get exhausted, they just stop. The drugs enabled even the mice that were out of shape to keep going.
No one is sure whether the pills will work on humans, but the possibilities are exciting. Dr. Joseph Hornyak, a professor of rehabilitation at the University of Michigan, said that there could be benefits for bedridden or wheelchair-bound people who cannot exercise.
"People who exercise have lower levels of depression and higher bone density," he said. "Whether or not this pill would confer those benefits, we don't know."
If drugs that mimic the effects of exercise are possible, they could be used to treat obesity and improve athletic performance. A comedian, Fran Lebowitz, said that the drugs could even result in better-looking people.
"All I have right now," she said, "is a vision of slim, vain, lazy mice."
Leave a Comment