New Drug Mimics the Beneficial Effects of Exercise

Zothecula writes "A drug known as SR9009, which is currently under development at The Scripps Research Institute, increases the level of metabolic activity in skeletal muscles of mice. Treated mice become lean, develop larger muscles and can run much longer distances simply by taking SR9009, which mimics the effects of aerobic exercise. If similar effects can be obtained in people, the reversal of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and perhaps Type-II diabetes might be the very welcome result."

Comments

The alternative

[Major Ralph]

Or you know, people could just go outside for a walk.

Re:The alternative

[LoRdTAW]

Easier said than done.

Re:The alternative

[roninmagus]

Ain't nobody got time for that. I say bring on the pills.

Re:The alternative

[Anonymous Coward]

How about those who can't? Muscle wasting is a major problem that complicates a variety of injuries and conditions, this could be a breakthrough for many people just wanting to live with more mobility and less pain.

But then I guess that doesn't occur to the blinkered "fuck you" generation.

Re:The alternative

[jc42]

I could be reading this wrong, but it looks like life expectancy is trending upwards since the 50's. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005148.html

You could be reading it wrong. Note that it explicitly says "life expectancy at birth". There has been a lot of criticism of this sort of things from statistics-enabled researchers, who point out that almost all of the life-expectancy gains in the past century have been through elimination of most early-childhood deaths. Life expentancy at birth has increased, but the life expectancy of someone 30 or 60 years old hasn't actually changed much.

There has been a bit of publicity around related topics lately. Thus, there has been a lot of discussion of the apparent fact that the increase in mammograms has produced no measurable increase in lifetime, just an increase in medical bills for the testing (and the "treatment" of false positives ;-). Similar statistical problems have been reported for prostate-cancer screening, and for an assortment of other medical tests.

Another statistical trick used to make things look better than they are is the common practice of giving cancer survival rates in terms of survival 5 years after diagnosis. This means, for example, that if you were to come up with a new test that diagnoses a cancer 5 years earlier than any existing test, your test would result in a 100% "cure" rate even with no further treatment, and no change in the death statistics. I've heard a couple of interviews in which the interviewer points out this problem, and the interviewee just continues talking about the same "5-year survival" figures.

In general, it seems that if you're over 10 years old, modern medicine really hasn't done much in increase your (statistical) lifespan, though it is sometimes fairly good at extracting money for treatments that don't increase lifespan.

(Perhaps some of the treatments improve quality of life, but the statistics for that don't seem to be widely studied or reported. It might be interesting to be shown wrong in this regard, however. OTOH, there has been a bit of media coverage lately of the problems with "treatment" of false positives.)

(And a more general problem here is that the general public -- and the media -- is generally ignorant of even the most basic statistical concepts.)

Re:The alternative

[hedwards]

No, it's not. Instead of watching that 4th hour of television every night, spend a half hour or so and walk around the block a few times. Cut out all the dairy and wheat products and there you've probably avoided most of the crap that the pill is supposed to cure.

I literally lost 25 pounds walking a half hour a day and cutting out the dairy, wheat and a lot of the superfluous carbs. At no point did I feel sick, tired or particularly hungry, in fact I felt and looked better than I had in years as my digestive track went back to a healthier state and my blood wasn't full of the crap that's in the usual American diet.

It doesn't take that much work to eat and live healthily, it just requires some commitment to your heatlh and a willingness to give your body the kind of foods and exercise that it evolved dealing with. You don't need to eat just because it's dinner time, you eat when your body gets hungry, and I mean hungry, not just a craving to eat.

Re:The alternative

[JabberWokky]

This isn't meant to sound cruel but I've personally never met anyone that was so unfit they could not exercise or change their diet in some way that would help.

You are young and healthy and have never met anybody who was dealt a bad hand genetically or suffered a crippling accident or infection. Get north of 50 after a life of minor accidents, or hang out with young people who have two pacemakers, biweekly seizures and a heart that leaks blood when it beats, and you'll find that not everybody is physically capable of what you envision everybody as able to do. Sometimes it is as simple as a quick infection of the pericardium and heart as a young child. Other times it is something work related like the other car driving into a ditch atop your ATV while you were both pursuing a suspect in the dark. It can even be their fault: I've known people thrown out of the back of pickup trucks who live with a solid brace bolted into their spinal column. It doesn't matter: it is their reality, and they have to deal with what they can do. Eating well, exercising in the pool, doing exactly what their doctors tell them to, but still unable to really be fit.

These are the people who need help beyond mere "exercise and a change in their diet". There are people living beyond your sphere of experience who can benefit greatly from things like this.

This can't end well

[Overzeetop]

If it seems too good to be true...

Re:This can't end well

[houstonbofh]

If it seems too good to be true...

Wait until you see the side effects...

Re:This can't end well

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

"Good for the welfare generation, maybe. Entitled little shits who want everything but don't want to put in the work."

Are boats just for lazy fucks who are too good to swim, and computers for people who lack the moral fiber for doing math in their heads?

Why is 'putting in the work', when an engineering solution (may, research is still preliminary) offer a labor saving method of solving the same problem? Is all of applied science and engineering immoral laziness, or is there some special virtue to sweating and grunting?

Speculation

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

Biology being what it is, it's reasonable to think that the health benefits of exercise are a multi-factor phenomenon and that any one chemical will deliver fewer benefits than the real thing.

Then the odds are that the drug won't be bio-equivalent to the chemical signals released by real exercise and will have side effects as a result.

Re:Speculation

[mangu]

Or it could also be the exact opposite, perhaps it will give us the benefits of exercise without the downsides, such as the increased wear and tear in the body that exercise causes.

Re:Speculation

[internerdj]

Or, somewhere in between, where severely obese people can get into shape necessary for regular exercise by going through the pill regimen or by supplementing or weaning themselves towards regular exercise. Or otherwise healthy people can use the pills to maintain the benefits of exercise while recovering from an injury or disease preventing regular exercise.

Re:Speculation

[berashith]

There is a large segment of people that will say things like " running causes arthritis in your knees". This is what I was directing my comment at. Running, on its own, does not cause your knees to become weak or necessarily damaged. There is a chance of an injury occurring, but that does not mean that people should not exercise in general.

there is nothing different from "exercise over time leads to injury" and "being alive for a long time leads to injury" . Sitting at a bus stop has risks, sitting in your house has risks, walking anywhere can have one bad step that can do absurd amounts of permanent damage. None of this means that exercise will cause injury.

I have a permanent injury to a shoulder, so I somewhat understand your perspective .It happened from several odd falls, and then one day it came out while lifting a bucket and tore things up when it slid back in. I will never be able to do a pullup unless I can nearly one arm it with the other side.

My statement is not ignorant, it was targeted at people who are misinformed and loud, and the opposite of ignorant. Like I said, because of science. If it is arrogant, it is only because of the number of times I have to hear the nonsense about the cause (not risk) of injury being exercise.

Would probably be outlawed...

[RightSaidFred99]

Steroids, contrary to the public perception, can be used responsibly and with few health consequences, especially by men, to more easily lose fat and gain muscle.

It's not quite a free lunch, you can't sit on your couch and become Ronnie Coleman, but it will accelerate things.

Oops, sorry. Because we must protect the "integrity" of sports (and the money they bring in) we decided Steroids should be scheduled drugs

They'd probably do the same thing if something like this actually worked.

Re:Would probably be outlawed...

[phantomfive]

can be used responsibly and with few health consequences

Other than these.......

Re:Would probably be outlawed...

[DutchUncle]

I've never understood why you can't get them (perhaps with a doctor's prescription) if you're NOT participating in anything where they are banned. I'm not a pro athlete, I'm not looking to cheat anyone, I'm just a man over 55 who would like my workouts and cycling to be as effective as they were 20 years ago.

Re:Would probably be outlawed...

[Nidi62]

I've never understood why you can't get them (perhaps with a doctor's prescription) if you're NOT participating in anything where they are banned. I'm not a pro athlete, I'm not looking to cheat anyone, I'm just a man over 55 who would like my workouts and cycling to be as effective as they were 20 years ago.

You can. Go to a doctor and get your testosterone level checked. Most men over 55 have low testosterone and can get their doctor to prescribe some testosterone supplements. I used to work out with a guy in his 50s that was on it. He could bench press over 300lbs. It seemed to work for him. It's not steroids, but its the same idea.

Exercise is a luxury in US culture

[Anonymous Coward]

When one MUST commute 45 minutes one way, work a ten hour day, commute another 45 minutes - traffic permitting, eat, do chores, etc .. getting proper exercise is challenging to say the least.

I'm a real fitness nut and I have to plan my day pretty carefully and set some strict limits on other people's demands on my time.

It's extremely difficult in technology since the culture is to live to work and live at work - if you're not constantly in front of the computer, then something is wrong with you.

Re:Exercise is a luxury in US culture

[NatasRevol]

one MUST commute 45 minutes one way, work a ten hour day, commute another 45 minutes

No, just no.

Or you value your life very little.

Re:Exercise is a luxury in US culture

[NatasRevol]

No.

Change jobs.

Change professions.

Change homes.

Change debt loads.

I've done all of those over the last decade to get to where I can bike to work in 10 minutes, sleep 8+ hours, have dinner with my family, and run around with the kids. It can be done. But only if you value your life outside of work a little more.

Re:Exercise is a luxury in US culture

[NatasRevol]

You don't do anyone any favors by implying that your suggestions are trivial.

I implied no such thing. If you can't see they're not trivial, you have bigger issues.

I quit my job, moved across the country (without selling my old house), without a cushy job to fall into, just so I could spend more of my life with my family and less of it having to work to pay for that.

So don't whine when you say you can't. You're just scared to.

Re:Exercise is a luxury in US culture

[JazzLad]

Thank you, was reading the entire thread before doing so, but was about to make the very same comment. I am sick to death of successful people suggesting that all you have to do is exactly what they did to be successful.

It's not that I'm a failure, I am quite content with life at the moment, but I have had enough life experiences to know better than to think that friends of mine that struggle more than I do are just lazy or stupid. We all have our own burdens and situations and not everyone will be in a better position if they quit a horrible job.

Impacts all muscles

[crow]

A drug that tricks the body to respond as if it has been exercising will work on all muscles. Real exercise only works on the muscles that you use. Overuse of this drug would be expected to cause muscle growth where you don't want it. Bulk up those facial muscles.

Sure, in limited cases, this could be great. I'm thinking of cases where people can't exercise, using this in low doses to reduce the length of rehabilitation. Stuck in bed for a month or two due to a car accident? This is for you.

Of course, if it works, it will be abused. Need to get that extra edge for the Tour de France?

Re:I call bullshit.

[houstonbofh]

It must be comforting to "know" that a study must be false by virtue of the fact that you disagree with its conclusion.

Why not? It works for politics.

Re:I call bullshit.

[invid]

Exercise doesn't make you healthy, it's your body's response to exercise that makes you healthy. Of course it can be simulated.

Might not work for healthy people

[erice]

From TFA:

Previous studies on mice lacking Rev-ErbA showed decreased skeletal muscles, metabolic rate, and running capacity. Such mice appeared fated by their genetics to live as couch potatoes.

When Burris' group administered SR9009 to these mice to activate the Rev-Erb protein, the results were remarkable. The metabolic rate in the skeletal muscles of the mice increased significantly. The treated mice were not allowed to exercise, but despite this they developed the ability to run about 50 percent further before being stopped by exhaustion.

So they created some broken mice and then treated them with a drug that reversed what they broke. And, what do you know? The effects were reversed too.

I'd like to see a followup on unmodified mice to see if they also benefit. If Rev-ErbA is already present and active at normal levels, the drug may not do anything.

Re:That's what I told them!

[NatasRevol]

I planned it. I didn't do it in one day.

And I still have my underwater house, that I rent out.

Never said it was trivial. Just that it was worth it.

Re:How about a drug that cures laziness?

[bhagwad]

Dude...I've built up my laziness carefully over the years. Nurturing it and giving it the freedom to breath and achieve its potential. Why...oh why would I want to take something to destroy all my patience?