How to decrease your risk for upper respiratory infection.

The study reviewed here investigated the relationship between physical activity and the rates of upper respiratory tract infection (Nieman DC, et al. 2010).

The participants included 1,002 adults between the ages of 18-85 years, 60% were female and 40% male. They were followed for 12 weeks during fall and winter seasons and monitored using symptoms surveys.

The results showed that the days with upper respiratory symptoms were reduced by 43% in the participants who reported doing aerobic exercise 5 or more days per week when compared with those who did 1 day or less of aerobic exercise per week.

A 46% difference was found when comparing subjects in the high versus low fitness tertile.

One of the things you can do to improve your chance of staying healthy this winter is to include some type of aerobic exercise in your lifestyle.