Data showed improvements secondary to exercise in ' physical function ' and ' general health ' .
The other domains - ' role physical ' , ' bodily pain ' , ' vitality ' , ' social ' , ' role emotional ' , and ' mental health ' - did not show improvement at six months .
Although results showed significant heterogeneity between trials , population s and outcomes were comparable overall , with findings relevant to the claudicant population .
High- quality evidence shows that exercise programmes provided important benefit compared with placebo or usual care in improving both pain-free and maximum walking distance in people with leg pain from IC who were considered to be fit for exercise intervention .
Exercise did not improve ABI , and we found no evidence of an effect of exercise on amputation or mortality .
Exercise may improve quality of life when compared with placebo or usual care .
BACKGROUND Exercise programmes are a relatively inexpensive , low-risk option compared with other , more invasive therapies for treatment of leg pain on walking ( intermittent claudication ( IC ) ) .
This is the fourth up date of a review first published in 1998 .
OBJECTIVES Our goal was to determine whether an exercise programme was effective in alleviating symptoms and increasing walking treadmill distances and walking times in people with intermittent claudication .
Secondary objectives were to determine whether exercise was effective in preventing deterioration of underlying disease , reducing cardiovascular events , and improving quality of life .
Exercise training increases endothelial progenitor cells and decreases asymmetric dimethylarginine in peripheral arterial disease: a randomized controlled trial.
BACKGROUND Supervised exercise training ( SET ) is recommended as initial treatment to improve walking capacity in peripheral arterial disease ( PAD ) patients with intermittent claudication . Various mechanisms by which SET yields beneficial effects are postulated , however data regarding its influence on angiogenesis are scarce . Thus , we design ed a prospect i ve r and omized controlled trial to study the impact of SET on markers of angiogenesis and endothelial function in PAD . METHODS Forty PAD patients were r and omized to SET on top of best medical treatment ( SET+BMT )  for 6 months versus  best medical treatment ( BMT ) only . Endothelial progenitor cells ( EPC ) were assessed by whole-blood flow cytometry ( co-expression of CD34 + CD133 + KDR+ ) and cell culture assays ( endothelial cell-colony forming units , circulating angiogenic cells , migration assay ) at baseline , 3 , 6 and 12-months after inclusion . Changes of plasma levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine ( ADMA ) , vascular endothelial growth factor ( VEGF ) , stromal cell-derived factor-1 ( SDF-1 ) and maximum walking distance were determined . RESULTS EPC - measured by flow cytometric and cell culture techniques - increased significantly upon training paralleled by a significant decrease of ADMA when compared to the BMT group ( p<0.05 ) . Six months after training cessation , the beneficial effect of  SET  on EPC diminished , but maximum walking distance was significantly improved compared to baseline and controls ( p<0.05 ) . No significant changes were observed for VEGF and SDF-1 plasma levels in time course . CONCLUSIONS SET increases circulating EPC counts and decreases ADMA levels reflecting enhanced angiogenesis and improved endothelial function , which might contribute to cardiovascular risk reduction
Data showed improvements secondary to exercise in ' physical function ' and ' general health ' .
The other domains - ' role physical ' , ' bodily pain ' , ' vitality ' , ' social ' , ' role emotional ' , and ' mental health ' - did not show improvement at six months .
Although results showed significant heterogeneity between trials , population s and outcomes were comparable overall , with findings relevant to the claudicant population .
High- quality evidence shows that exercise programmes provided important benefit compared with placebo or usual care in improving both pain-free and maximum walking distance in people with leg pain from IC who were considered to be fit for exercise intervention .
Exercise did not improve ABI , and we found no evidence of an effect of exercise on amputation or mortality .
Exercise may improve quality of life when compared with placebo or usual care .
BACKGROUND Exercise programmes are a relatively inexpensive , low-risk option compared with other , more invasive therapies for treatment of leg pain on walking ( intermittent claudication ( IC ) ) .
This is the fourth up date of a review first published in 1998 .
OBJECTIVES Our goal was to determine whether an exercise programme was effective in alleviating symptoms and increasing walking treadmill distances and walking times in people with intermittent claudication .
Secondary objectives were to determine whether exercise was effective in preventing deterioration of underlying disease , reducing cardiovascular events , and improving quality of life .