NurseWeek

Exercising with a cold does no harm

By Rob Gregory
Health24News
October 20, 2000


	You've read the article. Now tell us what you think. Related sites Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise American College of Sports Medicine

Washington (H24N). Previous studies have shown that moderate exercise does not lessen the presence of a cold or make the participant more vulnerable. A new study that is wrapping up in the next few months may tell if the same is true for usually sedentary subjects who exercise through the illness.

A two-year study that is near completion, conducted by Ball State University’s Thomas Weidner, Ph.D., has taken 20 subjects who exercise less than twice a week and watched their exercise performance and immune system response through the illness.

"Is it possible," said Weidner, the coordinator of athletic training programs at the Indiana university, "when we engage sedentary people to mild to moderate exercise, can we change the course of illness in a positive manner?" This includes factors such as decreasing the severity and length of the cold. For the purposes of the study, moderate exercise is performed three to five times a week.

The subjects in the ongoing study are non-smokers whose only symptoms are those associated with head colds. No other symptoms below the neck are permitted, and the subjects must be able to be seen and examined every 12 hours for a week.

This study follows a study published in the November issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise that showed that exercise in moderately fit people did not lower the severity of cold symptoms.

This latest study is an attempt to provide pilot data to the National Institutes of Health in order to provide further research on the subject, said Weidner. "We’d like to examine changes, if there are any, with the sedentary group more closely."

For now, those who exercise with a cold can continue to do so with without fear of extending the stay of the illness, with the exception of those who have a feverish feeling. There, says Weidner, a red flag should be raised. "We’ve found that (the feverish) symptom should probably limit or cancel exercise," Weidner said. "We did notice change in performance when the feverish feeling is present."