New Study Indicates Moderate Exercise May Protect Against Colds

New York, October 26, 2006 – A moderate exercise program may reduce the incidence of colds. A study published in the November issue of The American Journal of Medicine, led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, found that otherwise sedentary women who engaged in moderate exercise had fewer colds over a one year period than a control group.

Subjects in a group of 115 overweight and obese, sedentary, postmenopausal women were randomly assigned to either a moderate exercise program (45 minutes per day, five days per week and comprised of mostly brisk walking) or to a once-weekly 45 minute stretching session. Both the exercisers and the stretchers filled out questionnaires every 3 months on the number of episodes of allergies, upper respiratory tract infections (colds and flu) and other infections. Subjects were taught how to distinguish various forms of infections and were followed for one year.

Over 12 months, the risk of colds decreased modestly in exercisers and increased modestly in stretchers. In the final three months of the study, the risk of colds in stretchers was more than 3-fold higher than that of exercisers. More stretchers than exercisers had at least one cold during the 12-month study period (48.4% vs 30.2%), and among women reporting at least one cold, stretchers tended to report colds more frequently than exercisers.

Senior author Cornelia M. Ulrich, PhD, of the Hutchinson Center, writes, “Our trial is the first to report on the effects of a year-long, moderate-intensity exercise training program on the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections. Although we did not find an effect overall on upper respiratory tract infections, our study suggests that moderate-intensity training can reduce the risk of colds in postmenopausal, nonsmoking, overweight or obese women. This finding is of clinical relevance and adds a new facet to the growing literature on the health benefits of moderate exercise.”

The study is “Moderate-Intensity Exercise Reduces the Incidence of Colds Among Postmenopausal Women” by Jessica Chubak MBHL, Anne McTiernan MD PhD, Bess Sorensen MS, Mark H. Wener MD, Yutaka Yasui PhD, Mariebeth Velasquez BS, Brent Wood MD PhD, Kumar B. Rajan MS, Catherine M. Wetmore MPH, John D. Potter MD PhD, and Cornelia M, Ulrich PhD, and comes from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Cancer Prevention Program, Seattle, Wash; University of Washington, Departments of Epidemiology, Medicine, and Laboratory Medicine, Seattle, Wash; University of Alberta, Department of Public Health Sciences, Edmonton, Alberta; University of New Mexico, Department of Psychiatry, Albuquerque, NM; University of Washington, Department of Biostatistics, Seattle, Wash. It appears in The American Journal of Medicine, Volume 119, Issue 11 (November 2006), published by Elsevier.

# # #

About The American Journal of Medicine
The American Journal of Medicine, known as the “Green Journal,” is one of the oldest and most prestigious general internal medicine journals published in the United States. AJM, the official journal of The Association of Professors of Medicine, a group comprised of chairs of departments of internal medicine at 125-plus U.S. medical schools, publishes peer-reviewed, original scientific studies that have direct clinical significance. The information contained in this article in The American Journal of Medicine is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment, and the Journal recommends consultation with your physician or healthcare professional. AJM is published by Elsevier.

About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier’s 7,000 employees in over 70 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect, MD Consult, Scopus, bibliographic databases, and online reference works.

Elsevier is a global business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a world-leading publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier’s ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Contact Information

Pamela Poppalardo

Media Contact

Elsevier

Contact via E-mail