A new study has shown that people who exercise, have a less chance of being sick with a cold. Not only that, but the duration of the cold decreases. Exercising is showing more uses then just getting rid of body fat or building up muscles. There was a report published which showed that people who exercised frequently for five days or more was up to 46% less frequency of colds compared to the people who barely got any. 41% of the symptoms were suffered less and the fittest group experienced 34% fewer cold days.Researches think the reason for this is because the immune system is more revved up while exercising. When one is dormant, the immune system goes back to its regular function ways.
The only thing that was limiting this research was the exposure to the cold germs. Overall though, this seems pretty exciting and another reason as to why we should exercise more. If the immune system is more active when exercising, can't science make a new drug that operates as a "pump" for the immune system to make it more active? I wouldn't be surprised if this happens one day.
5 comments:
I am not surprised with these findings however I would like to see scientists do a study involving both sleep and exercise. The thing is, I've known people who get sick quite often because frankly, they don't get enough sleep. Sometimes, these people don't exercise a lot. But in many cases, they do exercise a lot. So, based on my observations, I would find it hard to believe that exercise would help when that physically active person is not getting enough sleep. I'd be interested to find out whether or not this study used sleep as a control...
I agree with Conor I wouldn't mind seeing a further look into this that involves sleep as well. As for this study I can't say it surprises me at all. I haven't been sick since uhh... well i honestly can't remember the last time I was actually physically sick. I have always attributed my health and lack of sickness to my soccer 5 days a week so this is just further confirmation. As for sleep you would think that it would play a big factor in health but seeing as to how little i get of it I can't be so sure anymore hence my interest into a further study like Conor
As conor and Ross said these finding do not suprise me. As somoene who exercises quite often, I rarely get sick, and when I do get sick its not for very long. I have read about another interesting study which claims that people who do exercise when they are midly sick with the common cold, or in the first stages of another sickness, can do more hard to their body than good. The study showed that if u exercise while you are sick you can get a tiny fracture in your heart about the size of a hair. This can be very bad for you in the future and can lead to many other illnesses.
I actually don't think that any more research is necessary since our common sense has seemed to prevail ahead of science in many aspects. Scientific research was actually conducted to support such theories as "ducks like rain" and "an apple a day keeps the doctor away," and my personal favorite, "30 minutes of exercise a day is good for you." (Source: Popular Science) All I can say to these new findings is "Well Duh!" since my family has been saying these phrases for years and they were all "common knowledge" at some time to them. I guess it only takes millions of dollars of research an constant tests just to make sure that what we generally say is true. Well at least now we can't say that its just speculation. But if 30 minutes is the recommended time spent exercising each day, I don't see why people can't just get up and move about for a while and do something. I personally don't think we need supplements for something we can do naturally if we just put in a little effort.
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