A new study conducted by American scientists confirmed what people have noticed for centuries: lack of sleep makes the body more susceptible to colds, according to an Internet publication for girls and women aged 14 to 35 Pannochka. net The results of the study were published in the magazine Sleep.
A joint group of researchers from the University of California at San Francisco, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center concluded that people who sleep at night less than 6 hours suffer from respiratory viral infections at least 4 times more often than those who spend more in bed 7 o'clock.
"This is the first study in the history of Western science, during which scientists have established a clear relationship between the duration of sleep and the risk of colds. The information obtained is extremely important for health. Lack of sleep stronger than other factors affects the risk of catching a cold. No matter how old you are, how you race, whether you smoke, where you work and how much you earn - the sleep factor is more important than everyone else, "writes Dr. Arik Prather, professor of psychiatry at the UCSF, in the September issue of the magazine.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the lack of sleep in America has long become an epidemic. This is promoted today by the craze for digital devices, behind which millions of Americans sit in "free" nighttime. Lack of sleep is associated with thousands of car accidents, accidents at work and medical errors.
According to a survey conducted in 2013 by the National Sleep Foundation of the United States, every fifth American sleeps less than 6 hours a day during the working week. This is the worst indicator among the six developed countries, where similar surveys were conducted in the same year.
Scientists have long known that sleep plays an important role in maintaining health. Lack of sleep is associated with many chronic diseases, a decrease in the body's resistance, and even with an increased risk of premature death. Some scientific studies have shown that lack of sleep disrupts the function of T-lymphocytes, which are responsible for combating viral infections.
To learn more about the effect of sleep on immune defenses, Dr. Prather and his colleague, the physiologist at Carnegie Mellon, Dr. Sheldon Cohen, spent several years. In their latest study, they infected the volunteers with a virus, watching the reaction of their body. To this research they went for a long time, conducting one after another laboratory experiments and drawing up a theoretical basis.
"We, along with Prater, have been fighting this mystery for a long time before we had the opportunity to conduct this study on volunteers, which helped to answer such an important question," explains Dr. Cohen.
The scientists recruited 164 adult healthy volunteers who lived in the city of Pittsburgh and its environs. For 2 months, scientists observed their health, interviewed, assessed the level of stress, temperament, the presence of bad habits. The participants' sleep was studied with the help of special wireless sensors in the form of watches, which they wore on their hands 24 hours a day.
Then the researchers invited the participants to stay for a week at the hotel, instilled drops of the virus into their noses and watched their condition, collecting samples of mucus daily and determining the content of the virus. The results were as follows: participants who had slept less than 6 hours a day before the experiment fell ill 4.2 times more often; Those who slept less than 5 hours a day, fell ill 4.5 times more often.
"Lack of sleep is not just fatigue and irritation the next day. It really is a strong blow to our physical health. The study confirmed that a normal working week without a normal sleep during the cold season can turn out for many problems. In our business culture, people have few opportunities for recreation, but we are gradually beginning to realize that this has a very bad effect on health and well-being, "writes Dr. Prater.
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