The Effects of Endurance and Recreational Exercise on Subclinical Evidence of Atherosclerosis in Young Adults

Background: This study set out to identify the effects of recreational and endurance exercise on subclinical evidence of atherosclerosis in young adults. Methods: Cardiovascular disease risk factors and intima-media thickness determination by B-mode ultrasonography of 150 subjects were correlated to endurance exercise, recreational exercise, and sedentary lifestyle. The subjects comprised 20- to 40-year-old men and women without cardiovascular disease. This cross-sectional, case-control study analyzed data on the laboratory parameters and information collected from a risk factor questionnaire. Results: The athletes, both endurance and recreational groups, have significantly superior values with respect to physiognomy, lipid profile, and inflammatory markers in relation to the nonexercising study population (all P < 0.05). Detailed analysis showed markedly reduced values for relative body fat (relative reduction 14.3%), low-density lipoprotein (10.6%), and triglycerides (13.5%) and a 50% reduction of hs-C-reactive protein. In the univariate and multivariate comparison of athletic (n = 100) and nonathletic (n = 50) groups, exercise did not show to exert a significant influence on vascular wall parameters (for all, P > 0.05). Conclusion: Exercise, in recreational and endurance form, between the ages of 20 and 40 years exerts a preventive influence on cardiovascular risk factors but seems to fail to affect early, atherosclerotic vascular wall changes.