NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men who are physically fit and maintain a regular aerobic exercise program are less likely to suffer a stroke than their sedentary peers, study findings indicate.

According to the report, physical activity may reduce the risk of stroke, the third leading cause of death in the US, by lowering the risk of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.

To investigate, the researchers reviewed a decade's worth of medical data from nearly 17,000 men aged 40 to 87. All had completed a test in which they exercised on a treadmill until they achieved at least 85% of their maximal heart rate, a number calculated by subtracting their age from 220. The researchers gauged the men's fitness based on the length of time that they were able to maintain this level of activity.

Men who were able to exercise for longer periods were less likely to have a stroke, compared with men who tired after short bouts of physical activity. The relationship remained regardless of their weight, smoking habits, alcohol intake or parents' history of heart disease, and whether they had high blood pressure or diabetes.

Specifically, men deemed the most aerobically fit were 68% less likely to have a stroke than their more out-of-shape peers, and men who were moderately fit were 63% less likely to suffer a stroke, report researchers in the April issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Not surprisingly, blood pressure and total cholesterol levels fell as fitness improved. The men who were the fittest were also the least likely to be obese, have diabetes and smoke cigarettes, the researchers report.

"Our study indicates that men who are fit have a lower risk of having a stroke than men who are unfit," Dr. Steven N. Blair from the Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas, told Reuters Health.

"Public health agencies and clinicians should emphasize the importance of developing good cardiorespiratory fitness by engaging in regular and moderate-intensity physical activity," write Blair and co-author Dr. Chong Do Lee, a researcher from West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.SOURCE: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 2002;34:592-595.

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