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Exercise Cuts Inflammation
Related Protein in Blood
Excerpt By Alison
McCook, Reuter's Health
NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - Exercise is good for you for
a number of reasons, and now researchers think they have found
yet one more. Men who are physically fit tend to have lower levels
of a protein linked to body-wide inflammation, new research reports.
People with high levels of this
protein, known as C-reactive protein (CRP), appear to have a higher
than average risk of cardiovascular disease. Indeed, a recent
study suggested that testing for CRP could be an even better predictor
of heart attack than high cholesterol.
The findings of the new study could
help explain why exercise is so beneficial, said study author
Dr. Timothy S. Church of The Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas.
"We know exercise is good for you,"
Church told Reuters Health. Reducing CRP levels in the body "is
one of the potential mechanisms" as to why exercise helps reduce
a person's risk of heart disease and a host of other cardiovascular
problems, he added.
During the study, Church and his
colleagues measured fitness and CRP levels in 722 men. To determine
how fit each man was, the researchers asked him to walk on a treadmill
of increasing incline for as long as he could. They reasoned that
the more fit a man is, the longer he could stay on the treadmill.
The investigators found that men
who were the fittest also tended to have the lowest levels of
CRP in their bodies, while those deemed the least fit were more
likely to show the highest levels of CRP. The relationship between
CRP levels and exercise remained even after the researchers eliminated
other factors, such as age and obesity.
Specifically, the authors discovered
that people who were in the second-to-lowest category of fitness
were 57% less likely to have elevated CRP levels, relative to
those who were the least fit of the group. The risk of elevated
CRP decreased incrementally with increasing fitness, with those
who were the most fit appearing to be 83% less likely to have
high CRPs than the least fit men.
Church and his team report their
findings in the November issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis,
and Vascular Biology, a journal of the American Heart Association.
In an interview with Reuters Health,
Church explained that, in women, the relationship between CRP
and physical activity is likely similar, but somewhat more complicated.
"I think the results will be the same," he said, but might appear
less clear because of the dramatic hormonal changes women experience
during menopause. For instance, he said, menopause can increase
levels of CRP in a woman's body, and hormone replacement therapy
can boost CRP even further.
"The main benefit is just getting
out of that lowest fitness group," Church added, meaning that
the biggest drop in risk of elevated CRP levels in the body occurs
between the people who are the least fit, and those who are only
moderately more in shape. To graduate to the next-highest level
of fitness, the researcher recommended moderate physical activity
for 30 minutes each day--even accumulated in bits and pieces,
and not all at once--for 5 days a week. And one easy way to get
that exercise: walking, he said.
"It's free, you can do it anywhere,
you don't need any special equipment," he said.
"Just accumulate those steps throughout
the day," Church advised.
SOURCE: Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis,
and Vascular Biology 2002;22:1869-1876.
Reference
Source 89
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