Regular walking could lessen the chance of catching colds

Taking a regular walk, run or bike ride could halve the likelihood of catching a cold.

The good news for outdoor enthusiasts is that breaking into a sweat five times a week helps stave off cold viruses and lessens the effects of any infections.

A 12-week study of 1,002 people by researchers at the Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, found that 43 per cent fewer upper respiratory tract infections were recorded by those who took part in five or more sessions of exercise a week. The fittest third of subjects suffered 46 per cent fewer colds than their counterparts in the lowest third of the group, which included 601 women and 401 men.

Subjects kept a record of their infections during the peak autumn and winter common cold season.

The results, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, also showed the fittest and those who took exercise encountered less severe symptoms when they did get a cold.

The benefits of brisk walking add to the good news last month that walkers are likely to succumb to dementia.

Researchers at Pittsburgh University studied 299 older people and found that those who walked between six and nine miles a week showed less brain shrinkage in crucial tissue areas associated with some forms of dementia. The results appeared in the Neurology journal.

Even couch potatoes could say goodbye to colds if further research announced today bears fruit.

Scientists have found that antibodies continue to act even after a virus has invaded body cells, as well as attempting to stop the virus entering the cells.

The discovery, by Cambridge University, may open the door for new drug treatments to strengthen the body’s defences against viral infection.

However, it could be 10 years before the research leads to new medicines reaching the market.