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The Effects of Endurance Training on Lipedema

NCT05488977 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 58

Last updated 2025-07-10

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Lipedema is a fat disorder causing accumulation of subcutaneous adipose tissue particularly in arms and legs, and predominantly affects women. Lipedema likely contributes to an array of other pathologies, including obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, and neurological disorders. Lipedema tissue is often very painful and can severely impair mobility. The condition can also increase the incidence of depression, anxiety, or eating disorders.

There seems to be a general impression that lipedema tissue is difficult to reduce by diet, exercise, or bariatric surgery. However, only a few studies have actually explored the effects of exercise training on lipedema. Despite the lack of knowledge, the existing guidelines for lipidemia treatment promote a healthy lifestyle with individually adjusted weight control measures, including physical activity. In general, exercise is known to have an important effect on adipose tissue. Excess adipose tissue causes macrophage infiltration into the adipose tissue leading to continuous low systemic inflammation. This would suggest that there is a systemic inflammatory response in lipedema patients. Increasing IL-6 levels with exercise can decrease the level of proinflammatory TNFalpha synthesized from adipocytes and therefore lead to an anti-inflammatory effect by increasing IL-10 and IL-1ra levels. IL-6 also stimulates fat oxidation by increasing lipolysis. For these reasons, adding an appropriate exercise program to standard treatment might provide additional benefits for lipedema patients. The investigators aim to determine the therapeutic potential of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on pain, quality of life, body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness and circulating biomarkers in women with lipedema.

Conditions

  • Lipedema

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Exercise training

8 weeks of supervised high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • St. Olavs Hospital

    collaborator OTHER

  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Øivind Rognmo, PhD · Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
65 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2022-07-01
Primary Completion
2025-02-01
Completion
2025-02-01

Countries

  • Norway

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT05488977 on ClinicalTrials.gov