Re: Is chronic structured exercise necessary for health?

[Guest guest]

Hi Freebird:

I don't accept your premise as to what causes atherosclerosis. You

suggested earlier it was the inevitable result of aging. I don't

believe so.

I suggest you take another look at the WUSTL study that was

extensively discussed here at the time it was published. NONE of the

subjects in that study showed any evidence of atherosclerotic

plaque. They had an average age of 50 +/- 10 years. All had carotid

IMT measurements that suggested completely clean arteries. It is

very unlikely that all of them were extensive exercisers. Presumably

the group contained a whole range of different types and amounts of

exercise activity. Yet they ALL had excellent heart disease

indicators.

You seem to have a 'thing' about exercise being the be all and end

all of health - despite known examples, posted here, of superbly fit

athletes who dropped dead from heart disease in the street while

running. (I agree of course that a certain amount is helpful). So

more than the threshold level of exercise clearly does NOT provide

immunity against heart disease, and clean arteries apparently are

obtainable by people with a wide range of exercise habits.

I think you need to find a different tree to bark up.

Rodney.

>

> Endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular disease.

> Poredos P.

> University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Department of Vascular Disease,

> Slovenia. Pavel.Poredos@t...

>

> Healthy endothelium plays a central role in cardiovascular control.

> Therefore endothelial dysfunction (ED), which is characterized by an

> imbalance between relaxing and contracting factors, procoagulant and

> anticoagulant substances, and between proinflammatory and

> antiinflammatory mediators, may play a particularly significant role

> in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.

ED

> is thought to be an early physiologic event in the development of

> atherosclerosis, occurring before morphologic changes in the vessel

> wall can be detected. It is closely related to different risk

factors

> of atherosclerosis, to their intensity and their duration. The

> involvement of risk factors in ED is also supported by results of

> intervention studies that showed regression of ED with treatment of

> risk factors. Further, it was shown that ED is significantly and

> directly correlated with the occurrence of cardiac events. The

common

> denominator whereby different risk factors cause ED is most probably

> increased oxidative stress and consequently decreased

bioavailability

> of nitrogen oxide. Endothelial dysfunction promotes atherosclerosis

> and probably plays an important role in the development of

thrombotic

> complications in late stages of the disease. As ED is a key

underlying

> factor in the atherosclerotic process, markers of endothelial

> abnormalities have been proposed, but loss of endothelium-dependent

> vasodilation has became a broadly accepted indicator of endothelial

> dysfunction. Using these non-invasive tests it is possible to follow

> the dose-response of harmful effects or risk factors, and the

effects

> of preventive procedures on vessel wall function.

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

------

>

> 1)Healthy endothelium plays a central role in cardiovascular

control.

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

--------

>

> Exercise training enhances endothelial function in young men.

> son P, Montgomery HE, Mullen MJ, AE, Powe AJ, Bull T,

Jubb

> M, World M, Deanfield JE.

> Cardiothoracic Unit, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS

> Trust, London, United Kingdom.

>

> OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to assess whether

exercise

> training can enhance endothelium-dependent dilatation in healthy

young

> men. BACKGROUND: Exercise has been shown to reduce cardiovascular

> morbidity and mortality, but the mechanisms for this benefit are

> unclear. Endothelial dysfunction is an early event in atherogenesis,

> and animal studies have shown that exercise training can enhance

> endothelial function. METHODS: We have examined the effect of a

> standardized, 10-week, aerobic and anaerobic exercise training

program

> on arterial physiology in 25 healthy male military recruits, aged 17

> to 24 (mean 20) years, of average fitness levels. Each subject was

> studied before starting, and after completing the exercise program.

> Baseline vascular reactivity was compared with that of 20 matched

> civilian controls. At each visit, the diameter of the right brachial

> artery was measured at rest, during reactive hyperemia (increased

flow

> causing endothelium-dependent dilation) and after sublingual

> glyceryltrinitrate (GTN; an endothelium-independent dilator), using

> high-resolution external vascular ultrasound. RESULTS: At baseline,

> flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and GTN-mediated dilatation were

> similar in the exercise and control groups (FMD 2.2+/-2.4% and

> 2.4+/-2.8%, respectively, p = 0.33; GTN 13.4+/-6.2 vs. 16.7+/-5.9,

> respectively, p = 0.53). In the military recruits, FMD improved from

> 2.2+/-2.4% to 3.9+/-2.5% (p = 0.01), with no change in the

> GTN-mediated dilation (13.4+/-6.2% vs. 13.9+/-5.8%, p = 0.31)

> following the exercise program. CONCLUSION: Exercise training

enhances

> endothelium-dependent dilation in young men of average fitness. This

> may contribute to the benefit of regular exercise in preventing

> cardiovascular disease.

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

------

>

> 2)Even young men (who have presumably have minimal damage due to

their

> young age) benefit from enhanced endothelial function from exercise.

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

--------

>

> The effect of physical activity on endothelial function in man.

> Moyna NM, PD.

> Vascular Health Research Center, Dublin City University, Dublin,

Ireland.

>

> Endothelial dysfunction occurs early in the atherosclerosis in

> response to elevated atherosclerotic risk factors, and endothelial

> dysfunction itself may exacerbate the atherosclerotic process.

> Treatments that reduce atherosclerotic risk factors also generally

> improve endothelial function. The present review seeks to summarize

> the effect of exercise training on endothelial function in human

> subjects. Cross-sectional studies comparing healthy physically

active

> and inactive subjects as well as longitudinal exercise training

> studies of healthy individuals show little effect of exercise

training

> on endothelial function. In contrast, both cross-section and

> longitudinal studies document improved endothelial function with

> exercise training in subjects with abnormal baseline endothelial

> function, including the elderly and patients with heart failure or

> coronary artery disease. Improvements in endothelial function with

> physical activity may explain some of the benefits of exercise in

> subjects with, or at risk for, vascular disease.

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

-------

>

> 3)Endothelial dysfunction may exacerbate the atheroslerotic process.

>

>

> haven't I just shown good cause for the necessity of " fit " in the

> definition of health??

>

> FreeBird

[Guest guest]

Artherosclerosis

Cause: Endothelial dysfunction, a result of poor health habits and

normal aging.

Markers: HIGH blood levels of homocysteine, fibrinogen, C-reactive

protein, glucose, cholesterol, insulin, iron, LDL and triglycerides.

LOW levels of HDL and testosterone.

Prevention: Folic acid [PMID: 12015244, PMID: 14656033, PMID:

11772871, PMID: 15016776, PMID: 15069400, PMID: 14972346], vitamin C

[PMID: 10385496, PMID: 10543931, PMID: 12381083, PMID: 12018880,

PMID: 12237172], fish oil [PMID: 7867225, PMID: 10676668, PMID:

10419145] and lipoic acid [PMID: 14641086, PMID: 12086686, PMID:

11689467, PMID: 11323087, PMID: 9857109]. Anti-inflammation agents

help too.

Logan

--- In , " Rodney " <perspect1111@y...>

wrote:

>

> Hi Freebird:

>

> I don't accept your premise as to what causes atherosclerosis. You

> suggested earlier it was the inevitable result of aging. I don't

> believe so.

[Guest guest]

Hi Logan:

I suggest the only connection between 'normal aging' and

atherosclerosis is that if you have the 'poor health habits' that you

note below you will experience a steady accumulation of

atherosclerotic plaque. I suggest it is only AFTER LONG ENOUGH spent

in poor health habits - many decades - that you will notice any

symptoms. Clinton's symptoms did not appear until he was 90%

occluded. So it APPEARS as if it is a function of age.

I suggest that excellent health habits result in no tendency toward

atherosclerosis, no matter one's age. Have you read the WUSTL

study? Or the information on Pritikin's autopsy findings?

[There are, I am sure, a small number of individuals who have a

genetic predisposition to the disease who are exceptions to the

general rule I suggest above]

Rodney.

> >

> > Hi Freebird:

> >

> > I don't accept your premise as to what causes atherosclerosis.

You

> > suggested earlier it was the inevitable result of aging. I don't

> > believe so.