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It has been suggested that regular exercise produces favorable changes in serum lipid and lipoprotein-cholesterol concentrations. However, most of the subjects in this area of research have been men. Given the differences in lipid profiles between men and women, we wanted to determine if these same favorable changes took place in women. Of the 145 longitudinal studies available in this area, 27 met the criteria for inclusion in this analysis (i.e., an exercise training study that used women subjects and measured changes in lipid concentrations). Results show that exercise does favorably alter serum lipid profiles in women by reducing total cholesterol (194 to 190 mg.dl-1; P = 0.02), triglyceride (91 to 82 mg.dl-1; P = 0.01), and the ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (3.28 to 3.16; mg.dl-1; P = 0.03). However, a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol or decrease in low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol concentration was not observed. Results also show that changes in body weight during exercise are associated with changes in total cholesterol (r = 0.56; P = 0.01) and triglyceride (r = 0.42; P = 0.06) concentrations, indicating that greater body weight losses resulted in larger decreases in cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. Further analysis indicates that those women most at risk for heart disease (elevated pre-exercise cholesterol concentrations) responded most favorably to exercise training. These results suggest that exercise training, especially for those at risk for heart diseases is beneficial to the lipid profile of women.

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