Abstract

Forty women were studied to determine the effect of training and menopause on serum levels of total cholesterol (Tc),HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), and the ratio of HDL-C/LDL-C. Subjects were assigned to one of four groups: (a) premenopausal trained runners; (b) premenopausal untrained (P re-UT); (c) postmenopausal trained runners (Post-T); (d) postmenopausal untrained (Post-UT). The postmenopausal women had all undergone natural menopause. Analysis of variance indicated: (a) no significant differences between Pre-T and Pre-UT in measures of Tc and HDL-C and a significant difference between Pre-T and Pre-UT in LDL-C and HDL-C/LDL-C; (b) no significant differences between Pre-T and Post-T for Tc, HDL-C, LDL-C, and HDL-C/LDL-C; (c) significant differences between Pre-U and Post-UT in Tc, LDL-C, and HDL-C/ LDL-C, and no significant difference between these groups in HDL-C; (d) no significant difference between Post-T and Post-UT in Tc and significant differences between these groups in measures of HDL-C, LDL-C, and HDL-C/LDL-C. It was concluded that training prior to menopause had a positive effect on LDL-C levels and the HDL-C/LDL-C ratio. This positive effect continued with training following menopause and in addition HDL-C levels were also elevated. Verf.-Referat