The effects of menopause and training on serum lipids.

Forty women were studied to determine the effect of training and menopause on serum levels of total cholesterol (Tc), HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), and the ratio of HDL-C/LDL-C. Subjects were assigned to one of four groups: (a) premenopausal trained runners (Pre-T) (25-75 miles per week) (VO2max 44.82 ml/kg-1 X min-1) (N = 10); (b) premenopausal untrained who took part in no regular aerobic exercise (Pre-UT) (VO2max 28.60 ml/kg-1 X min-1) (N = 10); (c) postmenopausal trained runners (Post-T) (25-65 miles per week) (V02max 40.25 ml/kg-1 X min-1) (N = 10); (d) postmenopausal untrained who took part in no regular aerobic exercise (Post-UT) (VO2max 21.50 ml/kg-1 X min-1) (N = 10). None of the women smoked, were taking oral contraceptives, or any form of hormonal replacement. The postmenopausal women had all undergone natural menopause. Analysis of variance indicated: (a) no significant differences between Pre-T and Pre-UT in measures of Tc (188.04 mg/dl; 206.46 mg/dl) and HDL-C (73.2 mg/dl; 62.10 mg/dl) (P greater than 0.05) and a significant difference between Pre-T and Pre-UT in LDL-C (114.57 mg/dl; 144.57 mg/dl) and HDL-C/LDL-C (0.66; 0.44) (P less than 0.05); (b) no significant differences between Pre-T and Post-T for Tc, HDL-C, LDL-C, and HDL-C/LDL-C (P greater than 0.05); (c) significant differences between Pre-UT and Post-UT in Tc (206.46 mg/dl; 241.15 mg/dl), LDL-C (144.36 mg/dl; 184.85 mg/dl), and HDL-C/LDL-C (0.44; 0.32) (P less than 0.05), and no significant difference between these groups in HDL-C (P greater than 0.05); (d) no significant difference between Post-T and Post-UT in Tc (P greater than 0.05) and significant differences between these groups in measures of HDL-C (74.14 mg/dl; 55.54 mg/dl); LDL-C (141.45 mg/dl; 185.85 mg/dl), and HDL-C/LDL-C (0.57; 0.32) (P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)