Highlights
- •Physical exercise is a principal strategy for preventing and treating sarcopenia and its effects by increasing muscle mass and function.
- •Physical exercise improves flexibility, balance, and physical function, and corrects disability.
- •Physical exercise reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women.
- •Both aerobic exercise and strength exercises can partially or totally counteract the changes associated with metabolic syndrome in sedentary postmenopausal women.
- •Physical exercise is inversely related to the risk of dementia and improves the cognitive function of middle-aged women.
- •Physical exercise improves osteoarticular pain in postmenopausal women with fibromyalgia or breast cancer.
Abstract
Physical inactivity not only places women's health at risk during menopause, but also
increases menopausal problems. Abundant evidence links habitual physical exercise
(PE) to a better status on numerous health indicators and better quality of life and
to the prevention and treatment of the ailments that typically occur from mid-life
onwards. We can infer that PE is something more than a lifestyle: it constitutes a
form of therapy in itself. A panel of experts from various Spanish scientific societies
related to PE and menopause (Spanish Menopause Society, Spanish Cardiology Society,
Spanish Federation of Sports Medicine) met to reach a consensus on these issues and
to decide the optimal timing of and methods of exercise, based on the best evidence
available.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 26, 2016
Accepted:
April 19,
2016
Received in revised form:
April 9,
2016
Received:
March 16,
2016
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
