The Effectiveness of Physical Exercise in Reducing Common Risk Factors of Atherosclerosis: A Systematic Review.

Background/aims: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) or atherosclerosis is a chronic condition that is incurable and a leading contributor to morbidity and mortality. However, it is easy to prevent ASCVD by managing or preventing risk factors like hyperlipidemia, obesity/overweight, hypertension, and diabetes. This systematic review summarizes and presents current evidence on whether physical exercise could help in reducing ASCVD risk factors.

Methods: A comprehensive search was performed on PubMed, CINAHAL, ProQuest and Google Scholar. The sources were assessed based on their peer-review status, description of methods, unavailability of full texts, publication date (less than seven years), and publication in the English Language. The final search results constituted 19 peer-reviewed articles.

Results: Physical exercise is effective in improving the lipid profile, reducing waist circumference, reducing blood pressure, and lowering blood glucose levels. All types of physical exercise with intensity varying from low to high yield positive outcomes, although there is no consensus on whether the physical exercise program should be implemented for three months or less or on a long-term basis.

Conclusion: Physical exercise prevents and improves the management of hyperlipidemia, obesity/overweight, hypertension, and diabetes, which makes it a good intervention for reducing the risk of ASCVD. However, further studies should be performed to determine the duration within which the intervention should be sustained for optimal results.