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URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-2928-en.html
Background: Cardiovascular
disease is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in postmenopausal
women. Physiological decrease in estrogen levels and accumulation of
visceral fat and being overweight, increase the risk of cardiovascular
disorders in the menopausal years. The aim of this study was to
determine the effects of aerobic exercising on plasma nitric oxide level and
vessel endothelium function in postmenopausal women.
Methods: In
this semi-experimental study, twenty-three healthy postmenopausal women with
the average of age: 54.4±5.56 years were randomly divided into two exercise
group (n= 13) and control (n=10) group. The exercise group performed aerobic
exercise for eight weeks, three sessions per week with 50-70% of maximum heart
rate reserve. The duration of each training session was increased from 30 to 45
minutes gradually. During this period, the control group did not participate in
any regular exercise program. Before and after aerobic
training program, anthropometric measurements, VO2 max, nitric oxide
concentrations and Flow Mediated Dilation (FMD) of all subjects were measured.
Data were analyzed with paired t-student test at a significance level of
p<0.05.
Results: Eight weeks of
aerobic exercise, led to a significant reduction in weight and body fat VO2max
(p=0.001), FMD index (p=0.026) and nitric oxide concentration (p=0.003) were
significantly increased after aerobic exercise program.
Conclusions: Eight
weeks of aerobic exercise induced increasing in nitric oxide and improving the
vessel endothelium function in postmenopausal women and it can be said that
regular exercise may probably have a preventive effect for the development of
cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women.
