Browse evidence-based analysis of health-related claims and assertions
This material’s design helps keep useful charged particles apart while getting rid of the useless ones, which lets it turn benzene completely into CO₂ and water without leaving toxic leftovers.
Computer models show that when light hits this material, electrons move from one part to the other in a specific pattern that helps it work better.
When benzene is broken down by this material, scientists observed specific chemical steps along the way — like phenolate and acetate — showing how it turns into harmless CO₂ and water.
This material uses light very efficiently — for every photon of UV light it gets, it breaks down a small but measurable number of benzene molecules per gram of material.
A special type of material made by combining two chemicals can break down dangerous benzene gas in the air when exposed to UV light, removing it at a measurable rate.
The drug didn’t make muscles stronger or change how much energy they used during exercise — only how fast they recovered afterward, which points to mitochondria being the target.
Instead of giving growth hormone directly, this drug tricks the body into making its own in a natural rhythm, which might be safer for blood sugar.
We know muscle energy recovery got better, but we don’t know if it’s because there are more mitochondria, bigger ones, or just ones that work better.
Because so few people finished the study and the muscle energy didn’t improve much more in the drug group than the placebo group, we can’t say for sure the drug caused the improvement.
In people who took the placebo, IGF-I didn’t go up much, and their muscle energy recovery didn’t link to IGF-I — meaning the connection only showed up when the drug raised IGF-I.
The drug raised IGF-I levels by about 1.7 standard deviations — a big, normal-range boost that shows the treatment worked well without going overboard.
Even when researchers removed blurry or low-quality scans, the link between IGF-I and muscle energy recovery stayed strong — so the finding is reliable.
The muscle energy recovery speed (ViPCr) responded more clearly to IGF-I than another measure (τPCr), meaning ViPCr might be a better way to track how well muscles are making energy.
The drug didn’t make blood sugar or insulin levels better, so its benefits must come from somewhere else — likely directly on muscle energy production.
The muscle energy improvement wasn’t because people lost weight or got more active — it seemed to be linked directly to IGF-I levels instead.
Before starting the study, both the drug group and the placebo group had the same muscle energy recovery ability, so any later differences weren’t due to starting out differently.
Even though the drug raised IGF-I levels, it didn’t make the muscle energy recovery noticeably better than the placebo — so the effect might be subtle or only show up in certain people.
After a year of taking tesamorelin, obese people with low growth hormone had much higher levels of IGF-I than those who took a sugar pill — proving the drug works as intended.
Even when accounting for differences in weight, fitness, and blood sugar, the more IGF-I went up, the better the muscle energy recovery — meaning IGF-I likely has a direct role.
In people who took tesamorelin, the more their IGF-I levels went up, the better their muscles recovered after exercise — and this link was even stronger than in the whole group.
When obese people with low growth hormone took a drug called tesamorelin for a year, their muscle energy recovery got better, which means their muscle cells may have become better at making energy.
The fat gets healthier-looking on scans even if the amount of fat doesn’t change — the drug is improving the fat itself, not just shrinking it.
Even if your fat started out looking healthier or less healthy on the scan, the drug still made it denser — the effect doesn’t depend on where you started.
The fat got healthier-looking on scans after 6 months of treatment, and there’s no sign the effect faded — it lasted the whole time.