Overview

Paffenbarger RS Hyde RT Wing AL Lee I-M Jung DL Kampert JB : The association of changes in physical-activity level and other lifestyle characteristics with mortality among men N Engl J Med 1993, 328:538–545. Oneof a series of reports from the Harvard Alumni Health Study. Eight-year follow-up data are presented on changes in physical activity habits (between 1962 or 1966 and 1977) for men aged 45–84 at outset. Men who were physically inactive but subsequently became active (taking up moderately vigorous sports activity) had a 23% lower risk of death than men who remained inactive. Stopping smoking was associated with a 41% reduction in risk.

Blair SN Kohl HW Barlow CE Paffenbarger RS Gibbons LW Macera CA : Changes in physical fitness and all-cause mortality. A prospective study of healthy and unhealthy men J Am Med Assoc 1995, 273:1093–1098. All-cause mortalities were compared in men who were given two maximal treadmill tests at a mean interval of 4.9 years. At 5-year follow-up, it was found that men who improved from unfit to fit had a 44% lower risk of death than men who remained unfit. A lower death rate in men who improved their fitness was still evident after adjusting for age, health status and other risk factors for premature mortality. The findings were similar for cardiovascular disease mortality.

Morris JN Clayton DG Everitt MG Semmence AM Burgess EH : Exercise in leisure time: Coronary attack and death rates Br Heart J 1990, 63:325–334. Asurvey of 9376 male civil servants aged 45–64 years on entry. After 9 years (mean follow-up) a gradient for the risk of CHD was reported only for ‘vigorous’ activity. However, men who reported doing considerable amounts of cycling or that their regular speed of walking was ‘fast’ (4 milesh) experienced fewer episodes of CHD than other men.

Lee I-M Hsieh C-C Paffenbarger RS : Exercise intensity and longevity in men. The Harvard Alumni Health Study JAMA 1995, 273:1179–1184.

Blair SN Kohl HW Paffenbarger RS Clark DG Cooper KH Gibbons LW : Physical fitness and all-cause mortality. A prospective study of healthy men and women JAMA 1989, 262 (suppl 17):2395–2401.

Leon AS Connett J : Physical activity and 10.5-year mortality in the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT) Int J Epidemiol 1987, 20:690–697.

Pate RR Pratt M Blair SN Haskell WL Macera CA Bouchard C : Physical activity and public health. A recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine JAMA 1995, 273:402–407. Arecent summary statement that recommends people undertake 30 min of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days of the week. The rationale for this conclusion is presented on the basis of available evidence.

Paffenbarger RS Wing AL Hyde RT Jung DL : Physical activity and incidence of hypertension in college alumni Am J Epidemiol 1983, 117:245–257.

Patsch JR Miesenböck G Hopferwieser T Mühlberger V Knapp E Dunn JK : The relationship of triglyceride metabolism and coronary artery disease: Studies in the postprandial state Arterioscler Thromb 1992, 12:1336–1345.

Hardman AE Aldred HE : Walking during the postprandial period decreases alimentary lipaemia J Cardiovasc Risk 1995, 2:71–78.

Aldred HE Perry IC Hardman AE. The effect of a single bout of brisk walking on postprandial lipemia in normolipidemic young adults Metabolism 1994, 43:836–841.

Karpe F Hamsten A : Postprandial lipoprotein metabolism and atherosclerosis Curr Opin Lipidol 1995, 6:123–129.

Dela F Mikines KJ von Linstow M Galbo H : Does training spare insulin secretion and diminish glucose levels in real life? Diabetes Care 1992, 15 (suppl 4):1712–1715.

Wood PD Stefanick ML Dreon DM Frey-Hewitt B Garay SC Williams PT : Changes in plasma lipids and lipoproteins in overweight men during weight loss through dieting as compared with exercise N Engl J Med 1991, 319:1173–1179.

Willich SN Lewis M Löwel H Arntz H-R Schubert F Schröder R : Physical activity as a trigger of acute myocardial infarction N Engl J Med 1993, 329:1684–1690. Patientswith acute myocardial infarction were interviewed to identify their activities during the hour before the onset of symptoms and also to assess usual physical activity habits. The risk of heart attack was increased during or shortly after heavy exertion (compared with at all other times) but this increase was restricted, for the most part, to people unaccustomed to such exercise; their relative risk during exertion was 6.9, compared with only 1.3 for those who exercised at least four or five times a week.

Kestin AS Ellis PA Barnard MR Errichetti A Rosner BA Michelson AD : Effect of strenuous exercise on platelet activation state and reactivity Circulation 1993, 88:1502–1511.

Wannamethee G Shaper AG : Physical activity and stroke in British middle-aged men BMJ 1992, 304:597–601.