Exercise in a pill: have scientists really found a drug that’s as good for you as a 10km run?
Just how excited should we be about LaKe, the substance discovered by researchers at Denmark’s Aarhus University?
Can a pill really mimic all the beneficial effects of exercise? You’d think so from some of the stories about substances that “could make going to the gym unnecessary”. There was another rash of these a few weeks ago, when researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark announced that a drug called LaKe “brings the body into a metabolic state corresponding to running 10km at high speed on an empty stomach”. But what’s going on here? Even if a pill can replicate parts of what exercise does for us, how useful is that, really?
First things first: the most commonly accepted term for drugs like LaKe is “mimetics”, because what they do, as a rule, is mimic the biological effects of working out without the need to actually break a sweat. The idea has been around for a while: in 2008, San Diego’s Salk Institute introduced the world to a drug called GW501516 (516 for short), which signals key genes to burn fat instead of sugar, helping rodent test subjects run for longer without hitting the proverbial wall.
Continue reading...Topics
-
6 million pills seized, 47 arrested in major drug smuggling bust
Top stories - CBS News - October 18 -
Deadly drugs found in fake anxiety medicines being bought online in UK
Top stories - BBC News - October 29 -
Do you really need to exfoliate your face?
World - The Guardian - October 28 -
‘We have emotions too’: Climate scientists respond to attacks on objectivity
World - The Guardian - October 25 -
What impact could Taylor Swift really have on the US election?
Top stories - BBC News - October 20 -
The Budget Game: Can you do better than Rachel Reeves?
Business - Financial Times - October 15 -
Can you run the UK economy?
World - Financial Times - October 15
More from The Guardian
-
US election live updates: Harris and Trump hold duelling Pittsburgh rallies in final hours of campaigning
World - The Guardian - 8 minutes ago -
Polls on US House and Senate races paint a worrying picture for Democrats
World - The Guardian - 13 hours ago -
Trump’s lead over Harris in betting market erodes as platforms tighten odds
World - The Guardian - 8 hours ago -
When do polls close on election day, Tuesday, 5 November 2024?
World - The Guardian - 15 hours ago -
Israel braces for another Iranian attack after threats from leaders in Tehran
World - The Guardian - 8 hours ago
Latest in World
-
US election live updates: Harris and Trump hold duelling Pittsburgh rallies in final hours of campaigning
World - The Guardian - 8 minutes ago -
Kiss chaste: number of high school boys in Japan who have had first kiss falls to 1970s levels
World - The Guardian - 13 minutes ago -
North Korea fires a barrage of ballistic missiles toward the sea ahead of US election
World - ABC News - 17 minutes ago -
Heavy rains in Barcelona disrupt rail service amid search for victims in Valencia
World - ABC News - 49 minutes ago -
Russian rocket launches Iranian satellites into orbit as Moscow and Tehran expand ties
World - ABC News - 1 hour ago