Summary
The role of physical exercise and fitness in the development and prevention of coronary heart disease is subject to controversy. In reviewing the large number of epidemiological studies that have considered this relationship, we find several problem areas which could explain the inconsistency of published results: there is no single yet precise method for evaluation of the physical activity level of a given population; most studies include only a limited portion of the physical activity spectrum of their total population, and physical activity is interrelated with numerous other coronary risk factors.
We here present physical fitness results from a prospective study in asymptomatic healthy middle-aged men in whom fitness and activity were measured at entry. Over a 5-year period, the fitness level was predictive of coronary events independently of other coronary risk factors significantly correlated with the incidence of CHD. These results are in keeping with those of the few other studies in this area.
While physical activity should be recommended as a valuable contribution to good health, more research is required into its role in CHD, as well as into the determinants of fitness in the population and to possible mechanisms of prevention of CHD.
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© 1986 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht
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De Backer, G., Kornitzer, M., Sobolski, J., Dramaix, M., Degre, S., Denolin, H. (1986). Primary prevention of coronary heart disease by physical activity. In: Fagard, R.H., Bekaert, I.E. (eds) Sports Cardiology. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 52. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4257-8_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4257-8_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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