Exercise training as a therapeutic modality.
At present we have no data to assure us that physical activity changes or prevents the development of coronary atherosclerosis or that it changes the progression of the disease which is already present. The data are excellent that in about 85% of patients with coronary disease, exercise training has beneficial personal and societal effects. However, even this opinion must be subjected to critical scrutiny. Several (controlled and randomized) studies of the effects of exercise training on arteriosclerotic heart disease subjects are in progress, in the United States, in Canada, and in Europe. The National Exercise and Heart Disease Project in the U.S.A has already accessed 600 arteriosclerotic heart disease subjects and expects to attain the target study population of 800 subjects by 1 June 1976. We msut be prepared and willing to accept the results of such rigorously controlled studies. In another four to five years of follow-up, the basis for our present views will be either confirmed or rejected -- although most of us anticipate a validation of our present opinion, viz., exercise training enhances the quality of life, and coping capacity, even though the direct effects on the course of coronary atherosclerosis have not been demonstrated.
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D005082:Physical Exertion