Fitness in youth is associated with lower risk of atherosclerosis in middle-aged men

Men who were physically fit when they were young had a lower risk of atherosclerosis some 40 years later, according to a study led by researchers at Linköping University in Sweden. The survey results are British Journal of Sports Medicine, Our results suggest that atherosclerosis is one of the mechanisms behind the association between physical fitness and cardiovascular disease.

Our results strengthen the idea that physical fitness is associated with health status much later in life. The findings are concerning because there is a clear global trend showing that young people are in poorer health today than they were in the 1970s and 1980s, when study participants were younger. Therefore, I believe these findings may be even more important for people who are currently growing up. ”

Pontus Henriksson, Senior Associate Professor, Faculty of Health, Medical and Care Sciences, Linköping University

It is well known that poor physical health in early life increases the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. However, the mechanism behind this finding is not completely understood. An important risk marker for future cardiovascular disease is the development of atherosclerosis, which involves the accumulation of plaque within the arteries. The international research team supporting the current study therefore wanted to investigate whether physical fitness in adolescence is associated with atherosclerosis much later in life, and if so, whether atherosclerosis This suggests that this is likely the mechanism behind the association with cardiovascular disease.

In this study, researchers linked information from Sweden’s conscription register to SCAPIS (Swedish Cardiopulmonary Imaging Study), a large population study of heart and lung health in individuals aged 50 to 64. Data was also available for the approximately 9,000 men who joined SAPIS from 1972 to 1987, when they were conscripted at the age of 18. One of the strengths of this study is that it is based on a general population and that the men were followed for an average of 38 years.

Researchers looked at coronary arteries and found that supplies blood to the heart muscle, Coronary CT angiography, using CCTA. This study is the first to use this cutting-edge technology to examine plaque within coronary arteries in relation to physical fitness at a young age. Additionally, researchers studied two different types of plaque in her coronary arteries. Calcium-deposited dental plaque is easy to measure and has long attracted attention.

“We measured not only calcified plaques in the coronary arteries, but also non-calcified plaques, which are considered more problematic. They are more likely to rupture, can cause a heart attack, and have a worse prognosis. “It’s possible,” says Angel Herais. Adillo, a postdoc in the same research group.

“Our study shows that improved cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength in young people are associated with a lower risk of coronary atherosclerosis almost 40 years later,” says Pontus Henriksson. .

The researchers also used ultrasound to examine atherosclerosis in the large arteries that lead from the heart to the brain.

Because only men served in the military in Sweden at the time, researchers could only examine the link between physical fitness and atherosclerosis in men. Therefore, it is impossible to draw any conclusions about women from this particular study.

The study was funded by SAPIS’s major funders, including the Heart and Lung Foundation, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, Vinoba, and the Joanna Cocozza Pediatric Research Foundation. Other researchers from Linköping University also participated in the study: Karin Rådholm, Carl Johan östgren, Kristofer Hedman and Sara Higueras-Fresnillo.