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Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetic Women
- Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD;
- Meir J. Stampfer, MD, DrPH; and
- JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
IN RESPONSE:
Dr. Kessler questions the clinical implications of our study (1) and raises the issue of benefits compared with costs of physical activity. He has raised similar issues regarding our previous reports (2, 3). Despite his intricate calculations, Dr. Kessler misses the point of our study. First, although it may take several years of activity to prevent a single cardiovascular event among the least active group as a whole, for each individual woman, only 30 minutes to 1 hour of moderate to vigorous exercise per day is needed. Second, Dr. Kessler considers only the lowest and highest risk groups and ignores women in the middle categories. As we showed, the inverse association between physical activity and risk for cardiovascular disease is approximately linear, and women in the middle categories (<1 hour of exercise per week) also benefit substantially from exercise. Third, exercise has numerous other benefits, such as reducing blood pressure, increasing levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, maintaining healthy weight, preventing osteoporosis, reducing risk for some types of cancer, and improving quality of life (4). Exercise is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, most of the U.S. population is sedentary.
Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD
Meir J. Stampfer, MD, DrPH
JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH
Harvard School of Public Health; Boston, MA 02215
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
- Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians
