Frightening city air is often too dirty for jogging

Study: Better not to jog in the city
Those who regularly go for a walk, run a jog or cycle to keep themselves fit should avoid busy roads on the training route. A London research team found that low-level physical activity in the vicinity of busy roads negates the beneficial effects of respiratory movement and cardiovascular disease symptoms.

Jogging hurts in the city of health. (Image: YariK / fotolia.com)

This is especially true for people who are already suffering from heart or lung disease.

As part of the study, 120 men and women took two two-hour walks three to eight weeks apart. One led you along busy Oxford Street, the other through Hyde Park.

Subjects included both healthy volunteers and patients with chronic heart and lung disease. Before and after the walks, the study authors examined participants' heart and lungs. In all subjects improved lung function after walking in Hyde Park. In the ill participants, symptoms such as coughing, sputum, and dyspnoea increased as they walked along Oxford Street, which was heavily polluted.

Physical activity inhales more and more deeply, absorbing more unfiltered pollutants. This pollution can negate the positive effects of physical activity. The study can be found here. (Sb / pm)