Chronic lack of sleep is fraught with colds

The findings explain why lack of sleep makes us vulnerable to infectious diseases. The article was published in the journal Sleep. Previous studies have shown that the constant lack of night sleep negatively affects the metabolism, the state of the cardiovascular system and the level of inflammation in the body. However, all these studies were conducted in the laboratory. Scientists from the University of Washington (USA) for the first time in vivo studied the effect that has on the immune system a long sleep deficit.

To do this, the researchers took blood samples from 11 pairs of identical twins with different habitual duration of sleep a night, and analyzed the expression (work) genes.

The fact that the genetics of 55% to determine the behavior associated with sleep. At the same time, scientists have focused on indicators that demonstrate the level of activity of the immune response, ie the ability of the immune system to resist the pathogenic bacteria and viruses.

It was found that little sleeping at night twin activity of the immune system are significantly lower than those of their siblings, a conductive bed of at least seven hours.

"These results support the scientific evidence previously obtained that sleep deficit reduces the level of antibody production after vaccination, but also increases the risk of catching rhinovirus - said the lead author Nathaniel Watson (Nathaniel Watson). - This study again demonstrates the key role of sleep sufficient health, especially for normal immunity. "