Abstract
Objectives
To determine whether decreases in exercise 1) were greater in individuals who were
diagnosed as having hypercholesterolemia than in those without the diagnosis during
follow-up and 2) were greater in incident hypercholesterolemic participants starting
statins than in those not treated with cholesterol-lowering medications.
Participants and Methods
Regression analyses of changes since baseline (Δ) in exercise vs diagnosis of hypercholesterolemia
and its treatment in 66,377 runners and 12,031 walkers not using cholesterol medications
at baseline who were resurveyed during the National Runners' and Walkers' Health Study
follow-up (January 1, 1991, through December 31, 2006).
Results
A total of 3510 runners began statin treatment, 1779 began other or unspecified cholesterol-lowering
drug treatment, and 2583 had untreated hypercholesterolemia; 58,505 runners remained
nonhypercholesterolemic controls during the mean 7.2-year follow-up. Usual distance
run decreased significantly more in hypercholesterolemic runners who began taking
statins (mean ± SE: −0.47±0.06 km/d) than in runners who remained nonhypercholesterolemic
during follow-up (−0.08±0.02 km/d) (P<.001). However, running distance also decreased significantly more in hypercholesterolemic
runners who began unspecified/other (−0.52±0.08 km/d) or no (−0.47±0.07 km/d) cholesterol
drugs than in nonhypercholesterolemic runners during follow-up. Moreover, Δrunning
distance did not differ significantly between hypercholesterolemic runners who were
statin treated vs those treated with other/unspecified (P=.64) or no (P=.94) cholesterol drugs. Initiating statin therapy was not associated with Δrunning
pace in hypercholesterolemic runners or Δwalking distances in hypercholesterolemic
walkers.
Conclusion
These results are consistent with the premise that a decrease in running distance
is associated with hypercholesterolemia and do not suggest that statins reduce exercise
level or intensity.
Abbreviations and Acronyms:
Δ (difference between baseline and follow-up), BMI (body mass index), CK (creatine kinase), LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol), MET-h/d (metabolic equivalents-hours per day), VO2max (maximum oxygen consumption)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article Info
Footnotes
For editorial comment, see page 1314
Potential Competing Interests: Dr Thompson has received research support from Genomas, Sanolfi, Regeneron, Esperion, Amarin, and Pfizer; has served as a consultant for Amgen, Regeneron, Merck, and Sanolfi; has received speaker honoraria from Merck and AstraZeneca; owns stock in Abbvie, Abbott Labs, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, and JA Willey; and has provided expert legal testimony on exercise-related cardiac events and statin myopathy.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
