European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 29, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                To your health exercise diet go hand and hand by Janny Scott los agates times operate exercise and cutting one s eating habits Are equally effective in reducing body Tat and in modifying Levels of cholesterol believed a play a Pivotal role in coronary hear disease a new study indicates. The study by researchers a Stanford University found thai overweight men who ran 11.4 Miles a week and others who Cut their Toad intake by �0 percent experienced comparable reductions in body lat As Well As improvement in Levels at cholesterol. But Only the exercisers emerged Ullh no loss of lean body mass or muscle leaving them stronger than the dieters. For thai reason experts say the study published in the new a grand journal of Medicine underlines the value of exercise in preventing heart disease. The new study expands upon earlier findings that exercise can improve cholesterol Levels. The researchers had wondered whether exercise itself or simply the weight loss that resulted from it was responsible for the improvements. They Lound hat weight loss alone would accomplish the same end. However in an editorial accompanying the study two epidemiologists report that there is growing evidence that physical activity protects against coronary death although the role of one s constitutional or genetic predisposition to illness remains unclear. L also unclear is the optimal Quantity and intensity of exercise the epidemiologists say. Because of the proven risk of cardiac arrest during and immediately alter exercise they endorse brisk walking lot sedentary Middle aged people. The Stanford trial is an important step toward understanding the Rote of physical activity and diet in weight  the editorial states. The correction of obesity in in affluent sedentary society however should not Tocus on decreased. Food/intake.". Coronary fear disease in which heart tissue is damaged by insufficient blood Supply is believed to affect same 5 million americans. Atherosclerosis a form of hardening of the arteries is a leading contributor to some 700,000 heart attack and stroke deaths annually. Tho Stanford study of 131 middie aged men was intended to expand upon an earlier finding that exercise can improve cholesterol Levels. Does weight loss account for the improvement the. Researchers wondered of is there something special about exercise to answer that question participants were randomly assigned to three groups exercisers dieters and a control group. For a year the exercisers ran regularly but did not cr1. Job their baling habits the dieters Cut their food Intai and the control group made no changes. The dieters were directed not to change the balance exercising to lose weight a study women in each group exercised for up to 60 minutes every Day for six months. No Effort was made to restrict diet. Weight pulse rats and skin told measurement or body Tat Are a mean or each group. . It Morfet met leu walking 4 . Swimming 360 Putta rate at rail minute before 75 Afler 64 weight pounds before 148 after 189 skin fold Millimetres before 30 after 17 Calami per hour 360 pulse Rote Al real minute before 75 Attar s3 weight pounds before 15z after 135 skin old Millimetres before 32 after 19 calories per hour 12%  10� pulse rate at rest minute before 76 chef 63 Wol Flohl pounds before 148 after js3 skin fold Millimetres before 28 after 8 0% source n journal of spans Meti icim of carbohydrates fats and protein in i heir diet that Way. It would be Clear Ihal any physiological changes came from reduced Overall intake not for example irom culling Back on fats. At the end of the year the dieters had lost an average of 15 pounds significantly More than the exercisers nine Pound average loss. Both groups had lost similar amounts of body fat the dieters had also lost some lean body mass presumably muscle researchers said both groups also experienced similar changes in blood Levels of cholesterol and triglycerides two measures of heart disease risk. Both substances have been linked to atherosclerosis a Type of hardening of a arteries implicated in heart attack and stroke. Specifically each group showed increased Levels a High density Lipoprotein Hal cholesterol the so called Good cholesterol associated with lowered risk of heart disease. Cholesterol attaches itself to lipoproteins. Which carry it in the blood. Each group also showed similar drops in Iri Glycerides Latty substances that can indicate heart disease risk people with High Trig Cerida Levels often have Low Levels of Hal cholesterol and High Levels of undesirable Low density Lipoprotein Ldla cholesterol. The researchers found no drop in Bdl cholesterol Levels in either group possibly because the diet and exercise regimens were insufficient to trigger a change. However elevated Hal Levels May be As important As lowered Bdl Levels in preventing heart disease weight loss is certainly an important component of Lipop Tein changes Richard b. Terry a co author of the study said to an interview. And such weight loss Wilt bring about these Lipoprotein changes whether by diet or exercise however Terry said that other findings not published As part of this study1 show thai members of the dieting group gained Back much Pitrie lost weight the following year. The exercisers were More successful in keeping off choir weight. For that reason and others Terry and other experts chose to stress the importance of exercise in weight loss and heart disease prevention. The federally funded Stanford study was headed by Peter 0, Wood a professor of Medicine and associate director for the Stanford Center Tor research in disease prevention part of the. University s medical school 660 responsible Loc the Tow incidence of heart disease among those groups. Researchers have previously suggested that the reason fish diets Are beneficial is that the flesh of cold water fish such As cod hat bul and tuna contains an Oil that is Rich in a particular Type of Latty acid. But Fox said researchers still Aren t sure precisely How the Oil works to prevent heart attack. Some researchers have suggested Ihal the oils reduce the blood Levels of cholesterol and triglyceride both of which play a role in the narrowing of arteries. Others suggest that a fish Oil changes the clotting Rale in the blood which helps prevent blockages. Fox said he and his Collaborator Paul e. Dicorleto have found still another Way in which fish Oil May fight heart disease. In test tube experiments Fox said his team has found that the fish Oil reduces by 50 to 85 percent the production of he platelet derived growth Factor or Foin. He said similar tests using Peanut Oil had no effect on the growth Factor production while Sal lower Oil was less than 10 percent As effective me said the growth Factor protein normally stimulates the growth of smooth muscle cells which line the outside of arteries. Fox said the growth of these muscle cells is thought to promote the lesions in the arteries that can Lead to blockages the Basic problem in the heart disease process called atherosclerosis. Tuesday november29, 1988 we re not sure which of the three suggested mechanisms is responsible for the beneficial effects of fish Oil said Fox two or All Whiee May play a role. That s Ollen the Way it is in  he said All three theories need to be tested in humans or animals Only then said Fox will it be known exactly How fish Oil works to reduce heart attack and in what form the Oil should be taken into the human diet. The Oil from cold water fish is More fluid than Oil irom Beel or pork and is less Likely to produce the solid molecules that can dog arteries said Fox. Fish living in deep cold water he said Are thought to have developed this Oil in their bodies to help them function in the Chin Depths where they be. The stars and stripes Page 17