Science sprinting towards exercise pill
Pill could replace need for exercise.
Scientists in the US are working on a pill which can provide the benefits of exercises without people having to do an actual workout.
Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have managed to create two drugs which seem to have effects such as increasing stamina, burning fat and building muscle.
The team suggested compounds which mimic exercise could provide an alternative to anabolic steroids and be used to treat a range of conditions, such as muscle frailty caused by ageing or diseases like muscular dystrophy.
One of the chemicals, called AICAR, allowed mice to run 44 per cent longer than undosed animals, while the second compound, GW1516, had a greater impact on the subjects' endurance - but had to be combined with exercise.
Speaking of AICAR, Ronald M Evans, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator who led the study, commented that almost no one gets the "recommended" 40 minutes daily exercise.
"If there was a way to mimic exercise, it would make the quality of exercise much more efficient. This might be enough to move people out of the `danger zone' toward a lower risk, healthier set point. By intervening early, you may forestall the emergence of more serious problems" he added.
The drugs work by causing the body to create more mitochondria, or the structures which produce energy, while it also steps up metabolism and increases blood flow.
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However, he is also aware that the drugs could be used to give athletes an unfair advantage in sport - and has created a blood test which could identify cheats.
Founded in 1953, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute spends more than $700 million a year on its research activities and includes 12 Nobel Prize Winners and 124 members of the National Academy of Sciences among its researchers.
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