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How Your Zzzs Can Ward Off Disease
January 13, 2009 1:46 PM
By DAN CHILDS, ABC News Medical UnitCall it another reason to turn in early. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University released a study Tuesday showing that people who get less than seven hours of sleep per night were three times as likely as their well-rested counterparts to come down with a cold.
The new study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is not the first time research has suggested a link between sleep and immune function. Evidence of such a connection goes back at least as far as 2002, to a small study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In this study, researchers found that young adult subjects who had received insufficient sleep for four days straight got less immune protection from a flu shot than the subjects who got more sleep.
Dr. Akram Khan, a sleep disorders expert at Oregon Health and Science University, said research has hinted at such a connection for quite some time.
“Your mother was probably right when she told you that you need to get enough sleep,” Khan said, noting that animal studies have added more to the base of evidence supporting the link between sleep and immune function.
“Animals, when they get sick, tend to sleep a lot, and those that get sleep are more likely to recover,” he said. “If you deprive rats of their ability to sleep, eventually they will die of a bacterial infection.”
What’s more interesting, Khan said, is the possibility that an effect similar to that seen in the Carnegie Mellon study may be seen in infections other than the garden-variety cold. In short, could sleep help stave off a viral pandemic?
“Maybe people are also less likely to get infected with bird flu if they slept adequately,” Khan offered. “This could have humongous public health implications.”
And the best part may be that the remedy, in this case, is available without a prescription.
“It doesn’t cost a thing; all you have to do is sleep an extra hour or two,” Khan said.
January 13, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (12)
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Sleep is one of the truly exquisite joys of life.
Posted by: Lisa Again | Jan 13, 2009 4:28:58 PM
well DUH. how much money was spent figuring out what we all need to know?
SHEESE.
Posted by: tennesseephotowoman78 | Jan 13, 2009 11:58:38 PM
If something is backed with science, maybe, just maybe, people will start doing it.
Ha! Who am I kidding...
Posted by: Calis | Jan 14, 2009 8:54:56 AM
y sleep if u wanna PARTY
Posted by: perish | Jan 14, 2009 9:34:13 AM
Duhh, more time sleeping = less time out getting infected.
Posted by: blitherer | Jan 14, 2009 9:48:04 AM
I'm so healthy and I sleep a lot. People think I go to bed too early--and they usually get sick way easier than me. Going to bed early helps as long as you are actually *sleeping* in the bed though.
Posted by: ScorpRedhead | Jan 14, 2009 2:29:31 PM
zzzzzzzzzzzz... wha?
Posted by: jesuguru | Jan 14, 2009 2:40:01 PM
hey
Posted by: boss | Jan 14, 2009 7:30:38 PM
What a load of 5h17!
I sleep 6 hours a day, perhaps less, and I still hadnt had a cold for two years or so...
Posted by: Ben | Jan 14, 2009 10:23:25 PM
I hardly sleep for 5 hrs a day But whenever one unexpected holiday comes I sleep like a log . I get up for 2 hrs and then sleep , get up again for 2 hrs then again sleep in that way I sleep whole day and the next day ? wow! what a satisfaction ! Im fresh with full energy .
Posted by: paro | Jan 17, 2009 6:02:15 AM
I get five hours a night, get to work and get another hour and a half, then two naps in the afternoon, and sort of faze out and sleep when my wife talks to me. I have not had a cold in about 8 years.
Posted by: t | Jan 27, 2009 12:54:18 AM
Sleep is crucial to good health, to looking and feeling better, to being more alert, smarter, good mood, living longer. If people would listen to their body when it's tired and go to sleep or take a nap, they would live a much better life. I know people that think sleep is a waste of time, that they need to be doing something or be on the computer, that is complete nonesense. For me, sleep is one of my favorite things to do! Time for my nap, see ya.
Posted by: Dale G | Feb 10, 2009 5:00:00 PM
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