The “Exercise” Pill

According to this article in the NY Times researchers at the Salk Institute in San Diego reported that they have engineered two pills that trick the muscles into thinking that they have been working out furiously. For now, testing has been only done on lab mice. These drugs have shown up to 75% increase in endurance in mice, and the results will likely apply to people as well since muscle tone from human and mice are similar.

Dr. Ronald M. Evans, leader of the Salk group, mentions:

“It’s a little bit like a free lunch without the calories.”

The pills should be able to help people who are too frail to exercise, and those who suffer from diabetes and obesity. Diet and exercise are crucial to the treatment of diabetic patients, so there is a possibility that this drug could become widely used if it passes FDA guidelines. More testing and research is still needed in order to finalize the drug before it reaches consumers.