The effects of endurance and recreational exercise on subclinical evidence of atherosclerosis in young adults.
BACKGROUND
This study set out to identify the effects of recreational and endurance exercise on subclinical evidence of atherosclerosis in young adults.


METHODS
Cardiovascular disease risk factors and intima-media thickness determination by B-mode ultrasonography of 150 subjects were correlated to endurance exercise, recreational exercise, and sedentary lifestyle. The subjects comprised 20- to 40-year-old men and women without cardiovascular disease. This cross-sectional, case-control study analyzed data on the laboratory parameters and information collected from a risk factor questionnaire.


RESULTS
The athletes, both endurance and recreational groups, have significantly superior values with respect to physiognomy, lipid profile, and inflammatory markers in relation to the nonexercising study population (all P < 0.05). Detailed analysis showed markedly reduced values for relative body fat (relative reduction 14.3%), low-density lipoprotein (10.6%), and triglycerides (13.5%) and a 50% reduction of hs-C-reactive protein. In the univariate and multivariate comparison of athletic (n = 100) and nonathletic (n = 50) groups, exercise did not show to exert a significant influence on vascular wall parameters (for all, P > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Exercise, in recreational and endurance form, between the ages of 20 and 40 years exerts a preventive influence on cardiovascular risk factors but seems to fail to affect early, atherosclerotic vascular wall changes.
Popovic
Martin
M
Division of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. martin.popovic@meduniwien.ac.at
Puchner
Stefan
S
Endler
Georg
G
Foraschik
Cathrin
C
Minar
Erich
E
Bucek
Robert A
RA
D000328:Adult; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D057173:Recreation Therapy / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult