Study: Exercise Is Bad for Some People

A new study has found the unthinkable: exercise may be bad for some people.

The New York Times reports that a group of well-known researchers analyzed data from six rigorous exercise studies involving 1,687 people and found that about 10 percent got worse on one physical measure of heart disaease: blood pressure and levels of insulin, HDL cholesterol or triglycerides.

Some 7 percent got worse on at least two measures. There doesn't seem to be a reason why, researchers found.

“It is bizarre,” Claude Bouchard, lead author of the paper which published on Wednesday in PLoS One, and a professor of genetics and nutrition at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, part of the Louisiana State University system, told the Times.

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Several top medical professionals lauded the study saying it was well done. Others worry about the repercussions.

“There are a lot of people out there looking for any excuse not to exercise,” said William Haskell, emeritus professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. “This might be an excuse for them to say, ‘Oh, I must be one of those ten percent.’ “

In contrast, about another 10 percent had an exaggeratedly good response on at least one measure. Others had responses ranging from little or no change up to big changes, seen in about 10 percent, where risk factor measurements improved anywhere from 20 to 50 percent

The problem with studies on exercise and health, experts poing out, is that they do not follow people long enough to know if the benefits of exercise translated into fewer health problems. Researchers often infer that they do.

But some say there is no indication that anyone who had an adverse response to exercise actaully had bad health outcomes. But Bouchard dismissed that.

“You can’t have it both ways,” Dr. Bouchard said.

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