Ultimate Fitness in a Pill?

Talk about better living through chemistry...

TThis article in the New York Times states that science really is getting closer to providing people with that "magic pill" they can take to make their fitness dreams come true.

Scientists researching two drugs - Aicar and GW1516 - found that both dramatically increase muscular endurance. GW1516 does it with exercise, and Aicar does it (slightly less efffectively) without you moving a muscle. In trials using mice, both drugs tricked muscles into thinking they've been working out. Since, muscles' natural response to exercise is to become healthier and more efficient - resulting in increased endurance. According to Dr. Ronald Evans, the leader of the research team at the Salk Institute, humans and mice have similar mechanisms controlling these responses, so the drugs are likely to work on us as well.

My Take?

I'm torn.

As an advocate of exercise for fitness, self-awareness, and stress relief, it goes against my nature to recommend popping a pill that will take away all your problems. Especially when there's no information on the drugs long term effects.

On the other hand, the drug can be an important breakthrough for people with diabetes, muscle wasting conditions, etc. I can't help thinking that there are people in my family who I love very much who could benefit from something like this. I've seen firsthand what a huge obstacle it can be to go from being extremely out of shape to building a regular health and fitness practice. It's rarely as simple as telling people to get up and run.

With all that saide, I feel I should admit that it just sounds cool. In a science-fiction, "We can build him stronger." kind of way, it feels like the dawn of some kind of Super Humanity. And that makes me want to get myself a tub of popcorn - with just a touch of butter, and maybe some brewer's yeast for the B vitamins - and watch this thing work itself out.

No doubt, these drugs will ultimately offer a lot of hope to a lot of people, while also ushering in a whole new world of problems. We'll hear stories of amazing personal transformation, as well as tales of abuse and possible fatality. Let's hope we have the wisdom to a better job with this new technology than we have in the past.

Until then, I gotta run.