Mixed
For secondary prevention of coronary heart disease, exercise interventions provide mortality benefits statistically equivalent to standard drug therapies (statins, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, antiplatelets).
If you have coronary heart disease, engaging in prescribed exercise programs can reduce your risk of death as effectively as taking standard heart medications like statins or beta-blockers. Do not stop your medication without consulting your doctor, but view exercise as a critical, equally potent part of your treatment plan.
Across all four conditions with evidence on the effectiveness of exercise on mortality outcomes (secondary prevention of coronary heart disease...), no statistically detectable differences were evident between exercise and drug interventions.
Why this rating
Meta-epidemiological study of 305 RCTs, but indirect comparisons and heterogeneity in exercise protocols limit direct causal inference.
Source
Comparative effectiveness of exercise and drug interventions on mortality outcomes: metaepidemiological study
Huseyin Naci et al. · British Journal of Sports Medicine · 2015
DOI 10.1136/bjsports-2015-f5577rep
More from this paper
- For heart failure treatment, diuretics are more effective than exercise interventions in reducing mortality.Moderate
- For prediabetes prevention, there is no statistically detectable difference in mortality outcomes between exercise interventions and drug therapies.Moderate
- For stroke rehabilitation, exercise interventions are more effective than anticoagulant or antiplatelet drug therapies in reducing mortality.Limited
Related findings · Mixed
- Bariatric surgery (VSG and RYGB) is the most effective and sustainable treatment for obesity, producing marked and sustained weight loss that non-surgical interventions cannot match.Strong
- Severely protein-deficient diets (2–3% energy) induce lean body mass loss and metabolic imbalance, whereas adequate protein intake (0.66 g/kg/d minimum) is a prerequisite for maintaining muscle, bone, and physiological function.Strong
- For patients with Class III obesity (BMI >39.9 kg/m2), metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) is significantly more effective than any currently approved medication, with BilioPancreatic Diversion (BPD) showing the highest estimated weight loss.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →