Physical exercise-induced protection on ischemic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Physical exercise is any bodily activity to enhance or maintain physical fitness and overall health and wellness. A series of associated studies have demonstrated that physical exercise could alleviate the infarct volume, increase the collateral circulation, promote endothelial progenitor cells, improve cerebral blood flow after cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In this review, we summed up the protective effects of physical exercise on cerebral blood flow (CBF), vascular endothelium, vascular vasodilation, endothelial progenitor cells and collateral circulation. An awareness of the exercise intervention benefits for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases may encourage more patients with cerebral infarction and myocardial infarction and people with high risk factors to accept exercise interventions for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.