ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates the use and promptness of exercise programs to persons having coronary heart disease (CHD). It analyzes the present knowledge of the metabolic and physiological effects of exercise training on cardiorespiratory and other body functions. Numerous studies have confirmed the role of high density lipoproteins (HDL) as an independent risk factor for CHD separate from other lipids. The involvement of the left main coronary artery caused a marked decrease of HDL cholesterol; the more arteries that were diseased the greater the decrease in HDL cholesterol. The training program must be progressive both in patients with CHD and in healthy but sedentary persons. Exercise training has positive effects on body functions and physical fitness both in healthy persons and in those having CHD or hyperlipemic metabolic disorders. Exercise training may catalyze the reactions by causing changes in the hormonal levels as insulin, glucocorticoids, possibly sex hormones, and catecholamines, whose changes might regulate lipolytic enzymes.
