Menopausal women who exercise regularly appear to have a better quality of life than women who don’t, a new study shows.

Researchers report that exercise–induced improvements in heart and respiratory fitness seemed to have a direct impact on women’s perceived quality of life.

Although the impact on the number of hot flashes and other symptoms women had could have been due to chance, researcher Steriani Elavsky, PhD, tells WebMD that she believes a larger study would have shown a reduction in these symptoms with exercise.

Exercise May Ease Menopause Symptoms