Science Fact or Fiction: Muscles In A Pill?

These days, convenience is becoming synonymous with “living the good life.”  Motorized scooters, meal replacement supplements, elevators, escalators, even moving walkways all contribute to making things “easier” for us.  But, at what cost?  “Diseases of affluence,” as it’s known, refers to the epidemic of obesity and auto-immune diseases that plague industrialized, Western culture.  While there are plenty of merits for a convenient lifestyle, the trade-off is beginning to outweigh the benefits on some levels.  Hectic schedules, lack of movement, and questionable dietary habits conspire to not only pack on the pounds, but have caused the rate of preventable conditions like heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer to skyrocket.

Not surprisingly, being well is an afterthought when compared to superficial appearance.  And because we have been conditioned to expect everything to be so convenient for us, many of those same people are not willing to change their eating habits or exercise to achieve their desired look.  One needs to search no further than the profit margins cosmetic surgeons are earning to further prove this point.

Well, what if your doctor told you that you could achieve your ideal physique by taking a pill?  Would you go that route in order to skip workouts and sensible eating altogether?  Muscles in a convenient pill is too tempting for many folks to ignore.  As a matter of fact, several surveys suggest that women place being thin on a short list of things that would make them happy.  One survey in particular, asked 1,000 women if they’d rather be thin or rich?  43% of the respondents said they’d rather be thin, which is an indication how important it is to many women.  However, these same women admit that they’re not willing to put in the time or effort to reach their goal.

Contrary to having big muscles, what if that same pill were able to sculpt a svelte physique minus the sweaty workouts or boring salads?  Enter myostatin.

What Is Myostatin?

Myostatin is a protein gene that was discovered in 1997 by three geneticists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.  This gene is found in humans and as well as other mammals and it’s primary function is limiting muscle growth.  So people who have higher levels of this protein, along with the associated gene, have less muscle development than the average individual.  Conversely, mammals that have a mutation in that gene tend to have about twice the muscle size.  I’m sure some of you have seen the pictures of the freakishly muscular, seemingly “Photoshop’d” cow and dog.  These animals had a mutation in their myostatin gene that enabled abnormal muscle growth.  There are even documented cases of young children that have a similar mutation that resulted in about twice the muscle mass of a child that same age.

One of the geneticists that discovered the gene, Se-Jin Lee, has been doing extensive research with tweaking the myostatin gene in mice.  He effectively blocked the gene of one mouse in particular, which enabled significant muscular hypertrophy in the mouse.  One of the long term goals is to develop some type of drug that could essentially control the levels of myostatin in an individual, and perhaps creating an ideal physique with desired muscle tone.  Ironically, there have been no signs of improved strength or performance by blocking the myostatin gene.  So, the extra muscles would basically be a non-functioning mass of tissue.  You would look good though.  And that’s primary goal anyway, right?

Practical Applications

Superficial aspirations aside, there are real potential clinical applications for developing such a drug.  Currently, studies are being conducted to determine the efficacy of using myostatin drugs to treat people with muscle-wasting diseases.  Muscular dystrophy (MD) is one such disease.  MD a genetic muscle disorder that leads to degenerative muscle weakness and subsequent wasting.  A 2008 study published by the American Neurological Association, showed that myostatin inhibitors did increase the muscle mass of MD patients, but it did not increase muscle strength or function.  Researchers concur that more comprehensive studies are needed.

Related posts:

1. Why Resistance Training Is Critical For Long Term Fat Loss