title: Relationship of running intensity to hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the independent relationships of running intensity with antihypertensive, LDL-cholesterol-lowering, and antidiabetic medication use when adjusted for running volume (km x d(-1)).
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-reported medication use was compared cross-sectionally to running pace (m x s(-1) during usual run) in 25,552 male and 29,148 female National Runners' Health Study participants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The men ran a mean +/- SD of 5.2 +/- 3.1 km x d(-1) at 3.3 +/- 0.5 m x s(-1) (8.3 +/- 1.4 min x mile(-1)) and the women 4.7 +/- 2.9 km x wk(-1) at 3.0 +/- 0.4 m x s(-1) (9.2 +/- 1.8 min x mile(-1)). When adjusted for kilometers per day, each meter-per-second increment in intensity in men and women reduced the odds for antihypertensive drug use by 54% and 46%, respectively, reduced the odds for LDL-cholesterol-lowering medication use by 55% and 48%, respectively, and reduced the odds for antidiabetic medication use by 50% and 75%, respectively (all P < 0.0001). Compared with men who ran slower than 10 min x mile(-1), the odds for medication use in those who ran or exceeded a 7-min x mile(-1) pace were 72% less for antihypertensive, 78% less for LDL-cholesterol lowering, and 67% less for antidiabetic medications (the corresponding odds reductions in women were 61%, 64%, and 87%, respectively, for 8 min x mile(-1) or faster versus slower than 11 min x mile(-1)). Although usual running pace correlated significantly with a 10-km performance (male, r = 0.55; females, r = 0.49), usual pace remained significantly related to lower use of all three medications in men and antihypertension and antidiabetic medications in women when adjusted for a 10-km performance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although these results do not prove causality, they show that exercise intensity is inversely associated with the prevalence of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes independent of exercise volume and cardiorespiratory fitness (10-km performance), suggesting that the more vigorous the exercise, the healthier the health benefits.
authors.affiliation: Donner Laboratory, Life Sciences Division, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. ptwilliams@lbl.gov
authors.forename: Paul T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012420:Running
chemical_list: D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents
references.citation: Mayo Clin Proc. 2007 Jul;82(7):803-11
references.pmid: 17605959
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Feb;36(2):286-91
references.pmid: 14767252
references.citation: Am J Physiol. 1975 Apr;228(4):1029-33
references.pmid: 165725
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 Nov;39(11):1933-41
references.pmid: 17986900
references.citation: JAMA. 1999 Oct 20;282(15):1433-9
references.pmid: 10535433
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 1999 Sep 9;341(11):777-84
references.pmid: 10477775
references.citation: Ann Intern Med. 1998 Mar 15;128(6):417-25
references.pmid: 9499324
references.citation: Arch Intern Med. 2001 Jun 25;161(12):1542-8
references.pmid: 11427103
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Feb;36(2):292-6
references.pmid: 14767253
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1998 Feb;30(2):252-8
references.pmid: 9502354
references.citation: J Clin Epidemiol. 1991;44(2):183-90
references.pmid: 1995775
references.citation: Prev Cardiol. 2005 Winter;8(1):55-8
references.pmid: 15722695
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Nov;38(11):1863-88
references.pmid: 17095919
references.citation: Ann Intern Med. 2000 Jul 18;133(2):92-103
references.pmid: 10896648
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008 Jun;40(6):998-1006
references.pmid: 18461008
references.citation: U S Armed Forces Med J. 1959 Jun;10(6):675-88
references.pmid: 13659732
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 1999 Aug 26;341(9):650-8
references.pmid: 10460816
references.citation: Sports Med. 1986 Sep-Oct;3(5):346-56
references.pmid: 3529283
references.citation: J Appl Physiol (1985). 1991 Jan;70(1):357-62
references.pmid: 2010392
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000 Sep;32(9 Suppl):S498-504
references.pmid: 10993420
references.citation: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1977;301:484-94
references.pmid: 270935
references.citation: Arch Intern Med. 1998 Feb 9;158(3):237-45
references.pmid: 9472203
references.citation: J Physiol. 2008 Jan 1;586(1):151-60
references.pmid: 17991697
references.citation: Sports Med. 2007;37(4-5):332-6
references.pmid: 17465601
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008 Mar;40(3):433-43
references.pmid: 18379204
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Feb;36(2):297-301
references.pmid: 14767254
references.citation: Sports Med. 2007;37(4-5):424-7
references.pmid: 17465625
references.citation: Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008 Jan;16(1):102-6
references.pmid: 18223620
references.citation: J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2006 Sep;46(3):509-13
references.pmid: 16998460
references.citation: Am J Cardiol. 2006 Jan 1;97(1):141-7
references.pmid: 16377300
references.citation: Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2007 Aug;27(8):1811-9
references.pmid: 17510467
references.citation: Sports Med. 2007;37(4-5):316-9
references.pmid: 17465597
references.citation: JAMA. 1989 Nov 3;262(17):2395-401
references.pmid: 2795824
references.citation: Exp Physiol. 2007 Sep;92(5):881-6
references.pmid: 17631516
references.citation: Int J Sports Med. 1989 Apr;10(2):92-6
references.pmid: 2722332
references.citation: JAMA. 1968 Jan 15;203(3):201-4
references.pmid: 5694044
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 Aug;39(8):1423-34
references.pmid: 17762377
references.citation: Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004 Jan;28(1):120-8
references.pmid: 14569277
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Mar;36(3):533-53
references.pmid: 15076798