What is the purpose of the National Runners Health Study?
The purpose of the National Runners Health Study is to investigate the relationship between vigorous physical activity and the reduced risk of stroke, as well as other aspects such as coronary heart disease risk factors, cardiorespiratory fitness, and other precursors to cardiovascular disease. This study is also used to examine the association between maturity-onset diabetes mellitus and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke in women. Additionally, the study looks at the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and coronary heart disease risk factor association in women, as well as the influences of cardiorespiratory fitness and other precursors on cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in men and women. Lastly, it examines the association between moderate to high intensity conditioning leisure time physical activity and high cardiorespiratory fitness with reduced plasma fibrinogen in eastern Finnish men, the effect of exercise on age-dependent decrease in platelet protein kinase C activity and translocation, and the association between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and other risk factors for coronary heart disease in female runners. 