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For decades, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was prescribed for postmenopausal women to protect them from cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, results from the Women’s Health Initiative questioned its effectiveness, which has led to more caution in prescribing and using HRT for this purpose.
New evidence indicates that women can decrease their risk of heart disease with regular exercise. According to a recent study, women who are more physically fit have better blood clotting profiles than women who are unfit. These positive results were evident in three different measures of the hemostatic (blood clotting) system that have previously been linked to heart attacks.
Lead author Linda Szymanski explains: “Everyone benefits from being physically fit, regardless of whether they are on HRT or not. This is particularly good news for women who are either unwilling or unable to take HRT because they can gain cardioprotective benefits by becoming physically fit. You want as many reasons as you can to get people out there to exercise.
“In our study, fitness provided benefits that are not as obvious and are not usually measured by doctors or health clubs, unlike cholesterol, blood pressure, or body weight.”
Szymanski got the idea for this study because “We all know exercise is linked with reduced heart attacks. Everyone says this is because exercise lowers your cholesterol, etc., but the bottom line is it’s usually a blood clot that causes a heart attack.” The researchers thought exercise must have other benefits and so they tested blood-clotting variables, including clotting in association with fibrinolysis – the ability to prevent or break up blood clots.
In this study, a number of blood clotting variables were studied in four groups of women (12 in each group) – women on HRT who were fit and unfit, and women not taking HRT who were fit and unfit, before and after a maximal exercise test. The well-known “stress test” is usually used to diagnose or test for heart disease, or to find out how fit someone is before allowing him or her to embark on an exercise program. In this case the stress test was to check how the blood clotting system reacted – and unfit women didn’t respond well by any measure.
Tissue plasminogen activator (TPA), an enzyme made by the body that breaks up blood clots, was higher in physically fit women compared to unfit women. Plasminogen activator inhibitor, a blood substance that inhibits TPA, was lower in physically fit women. Additionally, a marker that indicates blood clot activation -- prothrombin fragment -- was also lower in fit women. Together these results suggest that exercisers may be better able to prevent the formation of blood clots, and may be one reason why exercisers are less likely to have heart attacks.
For information about Acupuncture & Massage College’s Oriental Medicine and Massage Therapy programs call Joe Calareso, Admissions Director, at (305) 595-9500.
