People who keep fit may be better equipped than others to stave off the common cold, researchers say today.
People who are physically active most days of the week are half as likely as the least fit people to suffer from symptoms of colds, according to a US study.
Researchers found that being male, old and married also seemed to help protect against colds.
The findings, reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, come from a study of some 1,000 people, whose health was tracked during the winter of 2008.
On average people suffered some 13 days of cold symptoms during the winter.
Researchers found the most active people suffered symptoms that were as much as 30 per cent less severe than others.
Researcher Dr David Nieman, of the Appalachian State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina, USA, says: "Bouts of exercise spark a temporary rise in immune system cells circulating around the body.
"Although these levels fall back within a few hours, each bout is likely to enhance surveillance of harmful viruses and bacteria, so reducing the number and severity of infections, such as the common cold."
* A second major study from Scandinavia, reported in the British Journal of Psychiatry, links leisure activity to protection against depression.
Researchers studied more than 40,000 people in Norway, interviewing them in detail to establish the state of their mental health.
The researchers, from the University of Bergen, Norway, and King’s College, London, say it is leisure-time fitness activities that reduce depression – not having an active job.
They write: "Individuals who engage in regular leisure-time activity of any intensity are less likely to have symptoms of depression. The context and social benefits of exercise are important in explaining this relationship."
Br J Sports Med 2010 doi 10.1136/bjsm.2010.077875
The British Journal of Psychiatry (2010) 197: 357-364. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.109.075176
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