The response of the ageing heart to regular physical exercise. An echo and Doppler study.
In upper middle age healthy subjects the functional cardiac reserve is known to be decreased (Port et al., 1980; Aubert et al., 1994). On the other hand regular physical exercise improves the cardiovascular function (Nishimura et al., 1980). The aim of this study was to establish whether regular physical exercise is associated with a significant change in the ageing process of the cardiovascular system.