Effects of Exercise Training on Serum Lipid and Lipoprotein Levels in Post-MI Patients

Exercise training is a central activity in most primary and secondary coronary heart disease (CHD) prevention programs. In healthy persons, training often results in beneficial changes in the lipid and lipoprotein profile. Data are not clear regarding lipid and other risk factor changes following training in CHD patients after myocardial infarction (MI). Using meta-analysis, the authors examined the results of 15 reports on the effects of exercise training in post-MI patients on lipid and lipoprotein levels. Four hundred and ninety male patients, average age 52 years, trained an average of 24 weeks at 76 % HRmax, Triglyceride levels decreased from 169 mg/dL to 149 mg/dL (P < 0.01), total cholesterol levels decreased from 232 mg/dL to 221 mg/dL (P < 0.01), LDL-cholesterol levels decreased from 145 mg/dL to 140 mg/dL (P < 0.01), and the cholesterol/'HDL-cholesterol ratio decreased from 5.7 to 5.0 (P < 0.001). High-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels increased from 41 mg/dL to 45 mg/dL (P < 0.001). Thus, exercise training following MI appears to have beneficial effects on lipid and lipoprotein levels in middle-aged men. The effects of these changes on subsequent morbidity and on natural history are as yet, not known.