Scientists Develop A Miracle Drug That Can Deliver The Benefits Of Mechanical Exercise; A Pill That Could Replace Your Workout

For those who are unable to exercise, this would sound like music to the ears. This is the long awaited drug for many people suffering from obesity or serious physical disabilities. The exercise pill could transform the lives of many people who are suffering from disabilities.

According to the research paper published in the journal Cell Metabolism, the scientists tried the drug on experimental mice and found that the mice ran for 270 mins before exhaustion set in. While the mice without the drug could run for only 160 mins before hitting the wall.

Scientists also observed that the endurance boost is also accompanied by other health benefits like weight loss, control of blood glucose levels suggesting that the pill could also help the diabetes patients.

The drug named GW501516 which was previously used for fat burning and improving the stamina is reported to change the activity of nearly 1000 genes of which many are involved in the breakdown of fat and few genes suppressed the conversion of glucose to energy.

Low conversion of glucose to energy is advantageous because brain solely relies on glucose for the functioning while muscles function with the energy derived from fat metabolism. If the blood glucose is not available, brain functioning gets slowed down, endurance level gets shorter and that is responsible for the feeling of hitting the wall sooner than normal.

The drug is known to increase the endurance level through a muscle protein called 'PPARD'. Normally, exercise activates PPARD; but scientists has shown that without any exercise, PPARD can be activated too and improve the endurance to the equivalent level.

The drug was developed by GlaxoSmithKline and a US company called Ligand pharmaceuticals in 1990 to treat metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Later the drug was abandoned as the studies reported that high doses can lead to cancer. But, this did not stop scientists from studying the drug. A decade ago, the test on animals showed an increase in stamina level.

This exercise pill may be a bane for athletes as many can misuse the drug to increase their stamina. But, this is definitely a miracle pill for people who cannot exercise due to their disability.