[Beneficial effects of physical activity on cardiovascular risk factors]

Numerous observational (epidemiological surveys) or interventional (controlled trials) studies demonstrated that regular physical activity increases insulin sensitivity in normal subjects and decreases insulin resistance in patients with obesity and/or type 2 diabetes. These favourable effects are at least partially linked to a reduction in abdominal fat mass. This results in a significant improvement of lipid profile, with a decrease in the concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, associated with an increase of HDL cholesterol level. Such favourable metabolic effects related to regular physical activity probably explain the better cardiovascular prognosis observed in regularly exercising subjects as compared to sedentary individuals. These observations should motivate any practitioner to promote endurance physical exercise in every subject, especially in individuals at high cardiovascular risk.