Exercise and Cardiovascular Disease

The physiological and clinical benefits of exercise are numerous and have been documented in healthy persons and those with cardiovascular disease. This chapter reviews the mechanisms by which exercise induces these improvements. Functional capacity is enhanced, an alteration that is particularly useful in those in whom cardiovascular disease has limited the ability to carry out the activities of daily living, as well as to engage in certain occupational and recreational activities. Physical exercise is increasingly viewed as an integral part of the long-term management of a variety of non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, which are precursors for the development of overt cardiovascular diseases. Unfortunately, optimal levels of physical exercise have not been adopted by the US population, a phenomenon that is viewed as a contributing factor to the growing epidemic of obesity and its related diseases.