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Medications

Is an 鈥渆xercise pill鈥� coming your way?

Researchers are developing pills that provide many of the effects of exercise. But none provides all the benefits of physical activity.

Health experts are fond of saying, "If exercise were a pill, everyone would want to take it." And scientists seem to agree. Over the past several years there has been an accelerated push to develop drugs that mimic the effects of exercise. The promise is enormous鈥攕uch medications could be a boon to people whose physical activity is limited by medical conditions or injuries. They could provide a head start for people who are beginning an exercise program. They could also confer the health benefits of exercise on healthy people who can't fit physical activity into their schedules or just don't want to get off the couch.

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