Paper
Friday, July 13, 2007
Effects of an off-site walking program on fibrinogen in women
Fumiko Furukawa, PhD, RN, School of Nursing, Tokai University, Kanagawa, Japan, Michiyo Kojima, PhD, RN, School of Nursing, Seirei Christopher University, Shizuoka, Japan, and Reizo Kusukawa, PhD, MD, Administration Office, The Tenri Hospital, Nara, Japan.
| Learning Objective #1: discuss fibrinogen as a cardiac risk factor. |
| Learning Objective #2: identify the limitations of the effects of walking on fibrinogen levels. |
Increased fibrinogen level can increase the risk of coronary events if platelet aggregation occurs due to a sudden change in body position. It is important to control its level in normal values during early adult age. Among the many effects of exercise, those related to fibrinogen are not well established, and it remains inconclusive whether decrease in fibrinogen occurs in women. The present study aimed to identify the effect of off-site walking on fibrinogen levels in such women. Healthy women, aged 32 to 53 years (mean±SD, 42.0±6.2 years), were randomly assigned to either an intervention group who undertook a 12-week program of walking (IG, n=21) or a control group who continued normal daily activities (CG, n=24); Exercise energy expenditure (EEE) was measured objectively using a microelectronic device at baseline and during intervention. Plasma fibrinogen levels were assessed before and after the program, and analyzed by the thrombin clotting time method. There were no differences in demographic characteristics except BMI between the two groups. Mean increase in EEE was 1.17±0.98 kcal/kg/day (EEE range: 3.56±
0.69 to 4.73±1.02) in the IG and 0.46±0.68 kcal/kg/day (3.42±
0.87 to 3.88±0.81) in the CG (P=0.01). Mean reduction in fibrinogen was 13.0±30.1 mg/dl (fibrinogen range: 259.0±
39.7 to 246.0±
39.3) in the IG and 2.7±40.6 mg/dl (256.1±
51.6 to 253±50.3) in the CG (P=0.34). The findings indicated that fibrinogen did not change significantly in the short term with moderate exercise intensity. However, we would anticipate that fibrinogen should decrease in the long term in the IG, as this was the direction of the trend observed. Further studies, however, are needed to confirm the preventive value of such a reduction.