Sleep Habits and Susceptibility to the Common Cold

Abstract

Background Sleep quality is thought to be an important predictor of immunity and in turn susceptibility to the common cold. This article examines whether sleep duration and efficiency in the weeks preceding viral exposure are associated with cold susceptibility. Methods Participants were 153 healthy men and women volunteers, ages 21–55. For 14 consecutive days, they reported their sleep duration and sleep efficiency (percent of time in bed actually asleep) for the previous night, and whether they felt rested. Average scores for each sleep variable were calculated over the 14-day baseline. Subsequently, participants were administered nasal drops containing a rhinovirus, quarantined and monitored on the day before and for five days following exposure for development of a clinical cold (infection in the presence of objective signs of illness). Results There was a graded association with average sleep duration, with those with <7 hours sleep 2.94 times (CI[95%]=1.18–7.30) more likely to develop a cold than those with ≥ 8 hours. The association with sleep efficiency was also graded with those with < 92% efficiency 5.50 times (CI[95%]=2.08–14.48) more likely to develop a cold than those with efficiencies ≥98%. These relations could not be explained by differences in pre-challenge virus-specific antibody, demographics, season of the year, body mass, socioeconomic status, psychological variables or health practices. Percent of days feeling rested was not associated with colds. Conclusions Poorer sleep efficiency and shorter sleep duration in the weeks preceding an exposure to a rhinovirus were associated with lower resistance to illness.

Augmented generation of protein fragments during wakefulness as the molecular cause of sleep: a hypothesis

“…A prolonged sleep deprivation increases susceptibility to infection in both humans and rodents. 29,36,[73][74][75] In healthy humans, the levels of IL-1b in blood plasma are highest at the onset of sleep. 16,76 This and other evidence, including circadian control of the production of somnogenic cytokines, indicates their involvement in physiological sleep regulation.…”

“…56,65,66 As described below, these and other inflammatory cytokines can act as somnogens, indicating a major but incompletely understood connection between the immune system and sleep. 4,16,29,31,36,[67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79] Another potent endogenous somnogen is the PGD 2 prostaglandin, which preferentially induces NREM sleep. 11,28,80,81 The somnogenic activity of PGD 2 is mediated at least in part by the ability of brain-produced PGD 2 to increase the concentration of extracellular adenosine.…”

Immunological aspects of sport nutrition

“…Prolonged bouts of vigorous exercise have been shown to result in transient depression of several white blood cell (leukocyte) functions and it is suggested that such changes create an "open window" of diminished host protection, during which viruses and bacteria can gain a foothold, increasing the risk that infection symptoms will develop 5 . Other factors such as competition 3,4 and psychological stress, lack of sleep 7 , exposure to environmental extremes (e.g. altitude) and malnutrition can also depress immunity 8,9 and lead to increased risk of infection ( Figure 1).…”

The Effect of Sleep Deprivation on Serum Igg Responses to Aerobic Activity in College Student Athletes

“…Sleep loss can have profound effects not only on supports immune function but upon human performance [5,6,20,22,40]. Many studies indicate that sleep deprivation disrupts cellular immunity [3,7,8,12,14,27,35].…”