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The relation between physical conditioning and susceptibility to upper respiratory tract infections is not clear. Investigators randomized 115 overweight, sedentary, postmenopausal women to either moderate-intensity exercise five times per week or stretching (comparison group) once per week. Adherence to exercise and the incidence of upper respiratory infections (categorized as colds, flu, or other) were assessed quarterly for 12 months through self-administered questionnaires.
Compared with the stretching group, women in the exercise group reported fewer colds during follow-up. The difference in risk for colds was greatest during the final 3 months of the study, when three times as many women had colds in the stretching group as in the exer…