Physical activity in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease: Overview updated

Table 1 Summary of the benefits of physical activity in primary prevention

Physical activity in primary prevention
Prevents	Improves
Diseases development associated with cardiovascular disease (hypertension, diabetes and metabolic syndrome)	Physical activity levels and physical fitness (cardiorespiratory fitness and skeletal muscle strength)
Obesity	Prevents weight gains, and improves blood cholesterol profile towards increased HDL blood levels and lower LDL blood levels
Type 2 diabetes	Glycemic control, and improves insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetics
Hypertension	Prevents the development of hypertension in normotensive individuals, and reduces blood pressure in hypertensive patients
Vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis	Reduces blood concentrations of several inflammatory biomarkers such as C-reactive protein, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2, cytokines IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α

TNF: Tumor necrosis factor; HDL: High density cholesterol; LDL: Low density cholesterol; IL: Interleukin.