New Exercise Pill.. Couch Potatoes Rejoice!

 Hallelujah!  Maybe my  prayers have been answered.  LOL   Scientists have come up with a little magic pill that allows you.. or at least it allows mice, so far.. to get the benefits of exercise without actually having to exercise.  They fed ordinary adult mice a drug designed to mimic fat, and they are now able to switch on something called PPAR-d,  "the master regulator that controls the ability of the cells to burn fat".  Even when the mice are inactive, this pill can trick their little mousy muscles into thnking they have been exercising, when they haven't lifted a furry little paw.  The pill not only affects the muscles and mimics exercise, it also makes the mice resistant to weight gain on a high fat diet.  By genetic engineering, they were also able to create a mouse whose "delta switch" is permanently turned on, with "an innate resistance to weight gain and twice the physical endurance of regular mice". They have increased endurance. allowing them to run 68% longer and 70% farther than mice without the drug.  This is great news for those ambitious  mice who decide to actually get up and do a few laps around the cage. 

The drug is called AICAR, and scientists aren't sure how, or if, it will work on the human population, but can you imagine what it could mean to your average couch potato?   With this pill, they could continue to lie around like lumps and watch TV or play video games, and get the effects of actually having moved.   If they can make this pill safe and effective for humans, it could definitely have benefits for those who can't exercise because of disabilities or being very obese.  Unfortunately, it would most likely also be used by some able-bodied individuals as an easy way to get out of working out regularly, like they know they should.  Just what we need, one more excuse not to be active.  The pill only mimics aerobic activity, so people would still need to strength train to keep their muscles toned and their heart healthy. 

I don't know...as much of a lump as I am, and as much as I hate to exercise, I just don't know if I think this is necessarily a step forward.  Maybe, instead of trying to find ways to make it appear as if we have been active, we should instead..I don't know..maybe,  continue to encourage people to actually *be* active.  I hope that if this is proven safe and effective on humans, and it becomes available, that it's not available to the general public, and is dispensed as a prescription drug by physicians.  I just see too much potential for problems and abuse with something like this otherwise.

What say you?  Do you think this is a great idea or a prescription for problems. Would you take it if it were safe and available to you? 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070429154936.htm