Exercise intensity appears to matter more than exercise alone
Exercise is a standard part of cardiovascular care, but a major clinical question remains unsettled in practice: which training style delivers the strongest vascular benefit for patients already living with heart disease? A new review suggests the answer is not simply to move more, but to structure that movement at higher intensity.
Researchers from Miguel Hernández University of Elche and the Alicante Institute for Health and Biomedical Research report that high-intensity interval exercise, or HIIE, showed the most robust evidence for improving endothelial function in adults with cardiovascular disease. The findings were published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology and summarized by Medical Xpress.
Why endothelial function matters
Endothelial dysfunction is a core feature of cardiovascular disease. The endothelium, the inner lining of blood vessels, helps regulate vasodilation, inflammation, and thrombosis. When it functions poorly, vascular health deteriorates in ways that can worsen outcomes for patients with conditions such as coronary artery disease or chronic heart failure.
Because of that central role, improving endothelial performance is not a niche physiological target. It is directly tied to the body’s ability to manage blood flow and maintain healthier vessel behavior over time. The new study focused on flow-mediated dilation, or FMD, which the source text describes as the gold-standard non-invasive measure of endothelial function.
