PILLS FOR EVERYTHING

Are you overweight and do you hate going to gym? Don’t worry! These days there are pills for just about everything. If you are tired, take a pill. If you lack energy, take a pill. If you are in pain, take a pill. But what about people who are overweight or inactive? The best solution for these people is to exercise, but many people don’t want to exercise or are unable to exercise. Drug companies are always looking for new pills to sell, and many have spent lots of money on developing a pill for these people too. In the 1990s, scientists who worked for one of these companies found a new drug that gave mice some of the same benefits as exercise. Newspapers began reporting on this new drug, calling it the “fitness pill” or “exercise pill”. They said it could “build muscle, increase stamina, and even burn fat.”

The reports said that mice with no previous fitness training could run much longer distances after they took the drug. Many people who read these articles wanted to try the pills, but reports about problems with the drug soon began appearing. Researchers found that mice had an increased chance of developing cancer after taking it. This meant the drug would never be approved for human use and the drug company stopped developing it. Medical researchers are still trying to develop a drug for combating weight. They believe such a drug would have many uses, including important medical uses. It could benefit people who can’t get out of bed due to their health problems. Medical researchers also believe such a drug could benefit the average adult as well. Most adults say they don’t have enough spare time to do the 40 minutes of daily exercise that the doctors recommend. For these people, a so-called fitness pill or exercise pill could be the best solution.

Even though the drug discovered in the 90s was never approved for human use, some athletes may have used it as a performance-enhancing drug to cheat. Top athletes already go through extensive drug testing before national and international events, but until sports authorities know about a new drug, it won’t be tested. Some people think top athletes who pass drug tests might still be cheating, and in some cases this has been shown to be true. The worldfamous swimmer and Olympic gold-medalist Michael Phelps knew this, so he offered to go through extra drug testing before the 2008 Olympics. He knew that many people would suspect his amazing strength and stamina came from using performance-enhancing drugs, so he felt he had to prove that it came from hard work and training alone.