Exercise and Molecular Fitness

Researchers identify 21 molecules in bloodstream that respond to exercise.
The Boston Globe (5/28, Johnson) reports that, according to research published in the May 26 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine, cardiologist Dr. Gregory Lewis, of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues from MIT and Harvard, have "begun to unravel the secrets of exercise, in part by analyzing blood samples taken minutes after runners crossed the Boston Marathon finish line. The findings, they say, could begin to reveal how exercise achieves its potent effects and could lead to ways of improving athletic performance or treating disease." So far, they found that "exercise affects fit people differently than those who are less fit, and they identified 21 molecules in the bloodstream, called metabolites, that respond to exercise."
HealthDay (5/27, Goodwin) reported, "A better understanding of" metabolites, which burn fat, "may not only boost athletic performance, but help prevent or treat chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease by correcting metabolite deficiencies."