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Extra exercise increases coronary artery calcification in white men

White men who engaged in three times the recommended physical activity guidelines over 25 years had higher odds of developing coronary subclinical atherosclerosis by middle age, according to new study findings.

“In healthy individuals, the ‘optimum’ dose of physical activity necessary to derive the upper threshold of cardiovascular benefit, and potential harms associated with very high levels of activity, remains undefined and equally controversial,” Deepika R. Laddu, PhD, department of physical therapy, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, and colleagues wrote in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

To investigate the link between physical activity and subclinical atherosclerosis development, researchers studied data from CARDIA study participants who self-reported their physical activity eight times from March 1985 through June 1986, and from June 2010 through May 2011. Laddu and colleagues used group-based trajectory modeling to identify physical activity trajectories with increasing age. They used CT to measure coronary artery calcification at follow-up.

Researchers found that the 268 participants who exercised three times current recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity per week had higher adjusted odds of coronary artery calcification vs. the 1,813 participants who exercised below the recommended levels (adjusted OR = 1.27; 95% CI, 0.95-1.7).

In addition, stratification by race showed that whites who participated in physical activity at three times the guideline rate had higher odds of developing coronary artery calcification (OR = 1.8; 95% CI, 1.21-2.67). Additional stratification by sex showed higher odds for white men (OR = 1.86; 95% CI, 1.16-2.98), and higher, but nonsignificant odds for white women. There was no increased odds for black participants.

Laddu said in a press release she was taken aback by the findings.

“We expected to see that higher levels of physical activity over time would be associated with lower levels of coronary artery calcification.”

One of the study’s other authors put the results into context.

“High levels of exercise over time may cause stress on the arteries leading to higher coronary artery calcification,” Jamal S. Rana, MD, PhD, divisions of research and cardiology, Kaiser Permanente of Northern California, said in a press release. “However, this plaque buildup may well be of the more stable kind, and thus less likely to rupture and causes heart attack, which was not evaluated in this study.”

Although coronary artery calcification has been linked to heart disease development, people should still continue to exercise, Laddu said in a press release. – by Janel Miller

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.