MONDAY, April 22, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Looking for that fountain of youth? As long as your trek is on foot, you're likely to find it.
A 45-minute walk a day can turn back the hands of time for post-menopausal women who are on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), increasing vascular health to match that of much younger women, a small but significant study suggests.
The research, presented today at the Experimental Biology annual meeting in New Orleans, shows that even previously sedentary women who took up regular aerobic exercise -- particularly walking -- were able to substantially change the elasticity of their arteries, a move that is likely to reduce their risk of stroke and even heart attack.
"We found that even women who never exercised before were able to improve the elasticity of their carotid artery after just 14 weeks of daily walking -- and in doing so, actually alter the condition of their blood vessels to match that of much younger women," says study author Kerrie Moreau, a researcher at the University of Colorado.
As Moreau explains, when people are young and healthy, their blood vessels have a very "elastic" quality, stretching or expanding as blood pumps in, and relaxing or recoiling as blood pumps out. It is this flexibility that helps keep blood flowing unhampered through the body.
With aging, however, the blood vessels begin to lose that elastic quality, becoming more stiff and rigid. They don't expand as easily when blood pumps in, so the pressure inside the vessel increases, causing what is known as high blood pressure.
Continually being subjected to this higher pressure causes blood vessels to weaken and become even more rigid. This, in turn, can increase the risk of blood clots, and eventually strokes or heart attacks.
In women, one factor that helps keep blood vessels elastic is estrogen, but that protection fades with menopause. While HRT can help to some degree, Moreau says her research found exercise had the greatest impact on blood vessel health.
For cardiac rehabilitation expert Rosa Arroyo, the finding is not surprising, and it bodes well for women who choose not to use HRT.
"Even though some of the women in this study did use HRT, the benefits of the exercise were clearly seen," says Arroyo, a cardiac care exercise physiologist at New York University Medical Center. "And I think it's important for women to realize that certain lifestyle changes, particularly exercise, can have beneficial effects on their cardiovascular system -- and that HRT use is not a must."
Although Arroyo points out the women in the study were healthy, which could affect the rate of response to exercise, she says even those with heart disease would benefit from the workout regime.
"I think this study proves an important point, in that it shows us that we can influence our health and even reverse some negative findings with something as simple as exercise," she adds.
The study looked at 14 post-menopausal women whose average age was 60. At the start, researchers used ultrasound to assess the general health and elasticity of the women's carotid arteries, which are thought to be a good indicator of overall blood vessel health. All the women had a loss of elasticity considered average for their age.
Moreau put the women on a simple, 12-week exercise program consisting of walking at a moderate pace for 40 to 45 minutes a day, five days a week. There were no other changes in their daily routines or diets.
At the end of the 12 weeks, researchers once again used ultrasound to measure the carotid arteries, checking for signs of elasticity.
On average, each woman experienced a dramatic 48 percent increase in elasticity -- a level equal to what would be considered normal for a pre-menopausal woman.
"Essentially, we found that the women were able to reverse the condition of their blood vessels
the elasticity returned to a state that is normally seen before menopause," Moreau says.
This, she adds, is likely to reduce their future risk of high blood pressure, as well as the risk of blood clot formation that could lead to stroke and even heart attack.
"The healthier your blood vessels are, and the more elasticity you can maintain, generally, the lower your risk of cardiovascular disease," Moreau says.
Although she's not certain exactly how exercise worked to bring about the change, Moreau says it may have something to do with altering levels of nitric oxide, a chemical that is released from cells lining blood vessel walls and acts as a vasodilator. This, she says, helps keep blood vessels open and flexible.
"Exercise increases the amount of nitric oxide in the body, and we believe that is one possible way it influences the health and flexibility of blood vessels," Moreau adds.
What To Do: For more information on links between blood vessel elasticity and heart disease, visit The Medical College of Georgia. To learn more about how blood vessels work, visit About.com.
