A new pill could offer the same benefits as exercise, including muscle growth and performance, a study has found.
The drug can mimic the physical boost of exercise and potentially treat “couch” conditions such as obesity and muscle atrophy.
It could also stave off age-related conditions such as dementia, heart failure and declining kidney function.
After decades of work, researchers at the University of Washington have developed a compound called SLU-PP-332 that activates specialized proteins known as estrogen-related receptors (ERRs) that are triggered by exercise.
Professor Bahaa Elgendy, professor of anesthesiology at the University of Washington and principal investigator of the project, said: “Everyone knows that exercise is super good for the body and mind, but not everyone can exercise.
Exercise in the pill could be beneficial to mimic or enhance the effects in people who are aging, people with certain diseases, or who are facing muscle loss due to other medications.
“This could lead to the development of drugs for some of the most challenging diseases we face today, such as neurodegenerative diseases and heart failure.”
“I’m not advocating replacing exercise or anything, but so many people like me are lazy and don’t like exercise or are busy all the time, so they could benefit from these drugs.
“It’s always been heartbreaking for me to see people, especially children, who can’t move and who suffer from muscular dystrophy and other terrible diseases.
I’m not 100 percent sure it could be a cure for these diseases, but it could at least help some people improve their quality of life.”
The researchers tested the pills on mice and found that they increased a type of fatigue-resistant muscle fiber while improving the animals’ endurance when they ran on a rodent treadmill.
The pills also appear to counteract the damaging processes that occur in the brain in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
Exercise improves metabolism and muscle cell growth and improves muscle performance.
A drug that mimics these effects could counteract the muscle atrophy and weakness that can occur in people as they age or are affected by cancer.
Some genetic conditions can also mean that people are unable to do physical activity.
