Physical activity in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease: Overview updated

Table 2 Summary of the cardiovascular protection mechanisms induced by physical activity in secondary prevention

Physical activity in secondary prevention
Decreases	Increases
Resting heart rate	Heart rate reserve
Resting systolic blood pressure	Diastolic function
Myocardial oxygen demand	Coronary circulation
Risk of myocardial ischemia	Myocardial perfusion
Sympathetic tone	Parasympathetic activity
Arterial Stiffness	Endothelial function
Low-grade vascular inflammation (levels of pro- inflammatory cytokines)	Nitric oxide bioavailability and circulating levels of endothelial progenitor cells
Expression of reactive oxygen species	Expression and activity of anti-oxidant enzymes
Resting levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1	Resting levels of tissue plasminogen activator activity
Platelet adhesion and aggregation