This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Sleep duration influences infection susceptibility
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Sleeping less than 6 hours each night may be associated with an increased risk for infection, according to recently published data.
“Short sleep was more important than any other factor in predicting subjects’ likelihood of catching cold,” researcher Aric A. Prather, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a press release. “It didn’t matter how old people were, their stress levels, their race, education or income. It didn’t matter if they were a smoker. With all those things taken into account, statistically sleep still carried the day.”
Prather and colleagues examined the impact of sleep duration on infection susceptibility among 164 healthy participants, aged 18 to 55 years, from the Pittsburgh area. Participants with a history of chronic illness or history of nasal surgery were excluded, along with those demonstrating other complications such as pregnancy or regular medication. In addition, participants with increased antibody levels against the challenge virus, rhinovirus 39 (RV39), were excluded.
Aric A. Prather
Eligible participants received nasal drops containing an infectious dose of RV39 and were quarantined for 5 days. To assess infection, nasal lavage samples were collected and cultured daily, mucociliary clearance function and nasal mucus production were examined, and blood was collected 28 days after exposure for serological testing. Sleep duration and continuity were measured for 7 consecutive nights using wrist actigraphy devices and self-reported sleep diaries.
Approximately 75% of the participants were infected by the exposure, and 29.3% demonstrated both infection and illness symptoms. The researchers found that shorter sleep duration, detected by actigraphy, was associated with illness (P = .011), with greater risk seen among participants who slept between 5 to 6 hours (OR = 4.24; 95% CI, 1.08-16.71) and those who slept less than 5 hours (OR = 4.5; 95% CI, 1.08-18.69). Sleep continuity and self-reported sleep duration were not strong predictors of susceptibility.
“In our busy culture, there’s still a fair amount of pride about not having to sleep and getting a lot of work done,” Prather said. “We need more studies like this to begin to drive home that sleep is a critical piece to our well-being.” – by Dave Muoio.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts