[Cardiac and humoral mechanisms of the preventive effect of physical activity on cardiovascular diseases]

Abstract

Many recent studies on the effects of regular exercise on the heart, coronary arteries and the balance between haemostasis and fibrinolysis suggest several mechanisms that are able to explain the epidemiologically well-documented association of habitual physical activity with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Based on a review of current evidence, it is proposed that i) the haemodynamic adaptation of an aerobically-trained heart is an important cardioprotective mechanism, ii) the importance of exercise-induced effects on the coronary vessels may currently be somewhat underestimated, and iii) the importance of training-related changes in the haemostatic-fibrinolytic balance is equivocal at present, since the relative intensity of exercise seems to be a modifying factor that has not been taken into account appropriately so far. Further biomedical research into the cardiac and humoral effect of physical training is, thus, needed to corroborate the recent epidemiological observation that moderate-intensity exercise is just as--or even more--cardioprotective than high-intensity sports activity.