SoylentNews

Attempting to Replace Exercise's Benefits with a Pill

posted by martyb on Sunday October 04 2015, @01:34AM   
from the use-only-as-directed dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Everyone knows that exercise improves health, and ongoing research continues to uncover increasingly detailed information on its benefits for metabolism, circulation, and improved functioning of organs such as the heart, brain, and liver. With this knowledge in hand, scientists may be better equipped to develop "exercise pills" that could mimic at least some of the beneficial effects of physical exercise on the body. But a review of current development efforts, publishing October 2 in Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, ponders whether such pills will achieve their potential therapeutic impact, at least in the near future.

"We have recognized the need for exercise pills for some time, and this is an achievable goal based on our improved understanding of the molecular targets of physical exercise," says coauthor Ismail Laher, of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Several laboratories are developing exercise pills, which at this early stage are being tested in animals to primarily target skeletal muscle performance and improve strength and energy use—essentially producing stronger and faster muscles. But of course the benefits of exercise are far greater than its effects on only muscles.

Couch potatoes would rejoice, of course, but exercise pills could also benefit the bed-ridden or astronauts who spend extended periods in microgravity.

---

Original Submission

• Mark Twain's take on the subject Mark Twain's take on the subject (Score: 2) by mendax on Sunday October 04 2015, @02:10AM

  by mendax (2840) on Sunday October 04 2015, @02:10AM (#244997)

  I like what Mark Twain had to say on the subject of exercise in a speech [pbs.org] he gave at Delmonico's Restaurant in New York on the occasion of his 70's birthday:

  I have never taken any exercise, except sleeping and resting, and I never intend to take any. Exercise is loathsome. And it cannot be any benefit when you are tired; and I was always tired. But let another person try my way, and see where he will come out. I desire now to repeat and emphasize that maxim: We can’t reach old age by another man’s road. My habits protect my life, but they would assassinate you.

  I think he would have enjoyed taking this pill if it were distributed in the form of a cigar.

  --
  It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		2

• Re:Mark Twain's take on the subject (Score: 2) by Tork on Sunday October 04 2015, @02:53AM

  by Tork (3914) on Sunday October 04 2015, @02:53AM (#245003)

  I'm pretty sure Mark Twain got lot of exercise through his daily life that we can easily avoid. I haven't atually gone *up* a flight of stairs in over a month. I'm also fatter than Mr. Clemens ever was.

  --
  Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩

  Parent

• Re:Mark Twain's take on the subject (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 04 2015, @04:24AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 04 2015, @04:24AM (#245020)

  That's a demonstration of survivor bias. All the people who got sick and died because they didn't maintain their physical health - being dead they couldn't write a testimonial to sloth. Twain got lucky, life is a lottery, even poor people can win the lotto.

  More generally, if you want to understand the world - don't be distracted by what you can see, think about what's missing.

  Parent