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Pill mimics exercise

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famous:
Hey everyone,
I just came across this article:

http://www.medbroadcast.com/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=15881&rss=67&rid=999999&channel_id=1055&rot=3

and the idea that they could adapt this from mice to humans scares the hell out of me. I am convinced if made accessible to masses it would very well be a huge push for society in the direction of "I deserve things without earning them" leading towards nothing good. I can see how a pill like this would be awesome for certain situations like bedridden or coma patients to stop muscle atrophy and the other things mentioned in the article, but more it just seems like justification and endorsement of a society of over-indulgence.

That said dude's gonna make billions if they figure it out.

Thoughts?

RedLion:
This makes me kind of apprehensive. I really just don't like the idea of people getting the benefits of working out without actually having to work out. It'll just encourage sloth and inaction. The fact that it also makes it possible for a person to run faster, longer than a person who doesn't take it seems to bode ill for sports, although I'd have to confess that I'm enticed by the idea of being able to run longer when I'm exercising.

jhocking:

--- Quote from: famous on 01 Aug 2008, 13:00 ---I can see how a pill like this would be awesome for certain situations like bedridden or coma patients to stop muscle atrophy and the other things mentioned in the article

--- End quote ---

Actually, the article specifically ruled out the pill being useful in those situations:

"But Eric Hoffman of the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., noted that AICAR mimics only aerobic exercise, not the strength training that might be more useful to bedridden people or the elderly"

What exactly that means in terms of heart health I don't know. After all, at it's core the benefit of aerobic exercise is strengthening the heart muscles. So what exactly does the pill do, anyway? The article is pretty vague; I mean, it states that the pill increases endurance, but makes little to no mention of any other benefits from exercise.


The only other benefit from exercise the article mentions is weight loss, and on that point I definitely feel like this pill would be a bad thing, and I speak from recent experience. For years I hadn't exercised, because the only reason to exercise I ever heard was for weight loss, and quite frankly I have no need to lose weight. However, I've recently become more aware of the importance of everything else you gain from exercise, and so I've recently started exercising regularly.

That's the potential problem: people think taking the pill is a replacement for exercise, and as a result they never exercise and the general health of the population declines. Certainly, quotes like the guy in the article saying "We have exercise in a pill" are more than a little irresponsible.

RedLion:
Exactly. Half of the point of exercising is the mental health benefits.

öde:
Having recently watched Hannibal Rising, I thought you were saying that you'd eat people taking the pill.

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