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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)
Don't Hold Your Breath Waiting for The Fitness Pill
When I read recently that scientists had discovered the chemical pathway in muscle cells that build strength and endurance and, from that, speculated that a "fitness pill" could follow, I thought of a remark attributed to Evelyn Waugh. When asked, as a fading Catholic, whether he would join the Church of England, he replied: "I may have lost my faith, but I haven't lost my mind."
How did the researchers come up with this claim? Have they lost their minds?
Here is a summary of the research that led to the headlines about a fitness pill. The researchers, over time (naturally!), bred mice to develop genes that "over-expressed" a signaling protein called "calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, or CaMK." When this protein and another called calcineurin were activated by investigators, they discovered a buildup of mitochondria and other physical changes in muscle cells that are usually associated with exercise. In addition, they also noticed more "slow twitch" muscles after such activation, another change associated with improved conditioning. From that, they (or the press) speculated that a fitness pill might follow that could do the same thing in humans.
I think these researchers have lost their minds. A chemical pathway in mice is one thing -- real fitness in humans is something else entirely. I think it would be a nice public service if the media sensationalists would keep that in mind when giving hope to couch potatoes everywhere that "work-free fitness" might soon be just a trip to the pharmacy away. I predict it ain't gonna happen.
It's one thing to better understand how muscle cells get stronger from regular exercise, something quite different to achieve muscle fitness without investing the time and energy to generate those changes. The American College of Sports Medicine holds that physical activity of less than twice weekly at minimal exertion rates of 60 percent of maximum heart rate at less than twenty minutes duration daily is ineffective. Even this seems a pitiful standard -- three times that level is needed in my view for serious fitness. To think that a pill will soon or ever be devised that will somehow charge on down just the right chemical pathways, pumping up muscle cells and building worthy strength and endurance sounds as preposterous as a cult religious claim.
By comparison, the Heaven's Gate folks who did themselves in a few years ago seem rational! (In case you forgot what this group believed, recall that they perceived the arrival of the comet "Hale-Bopp" as a joyous "marker." To their leader, Marshall Applewhite, the comet signified that the "Older Member in the Evolutionary Level Above Human" had arrived to take them home to "Their World" -- in the literal Heavens. They were about to graduate from 22 years at the "Human Evolutionary Level." If you could go along with that, you might find hope in the promise of a fitness pill.
The folks responsible for the excitement about a possible fitness pill (it must have been a slow news day) are associated with Duke University and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. I don't think this publicity is going to boost the credibility of these otherwise respectable universities. To provide a bit of respectability to this notion, which otherwise will seem to be a comfort to none other than dedicated, if gullible, exercise phobics, one researcher claimed the purpose of the research was noble. That is, it was not about finding ways to enable stress-load free fitness, but to assist patients with heart disease, diabetes, lung dysfunctions or other problems that prevented them from doing enough exercise.
Besides the sedentary slugs, this news was probably well received by some Tour de France riders (not the American team, I hasten to note) and borderline Olympic hopefuls fantasizing about potential performance-enhancing promises in such a pill. To these folks, the idea would be to train hard AND pop a muscle pathway pill and thereby improve their prospects of winning the big one! Again, this is not likely, in my humble opinion.
Get fit and become well the old fashioned way -- work at it, everyday and protect it with more hard work once you become fit. No, that's not as easy as popping a pill, but it's a lot more reliable, proven and surely has fewer adverse side affects.
In addition, remember to always look on the bright side of life.
Domain: physicalSubdomain: exercise and fitness
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