Common colds and sleeplessness are bed buddies

William Atkins
Tuesday, 13 January 2009 21:02

Science - Health

Pennsylvania and Virginia researchers report that the more sleep (and better quality of sleep) a person gets each night the better their immune system is able to fight off the common cold. Even healthy people with a strong immune system need a good night's sleep to help resist those colds.


These U.S. researchers also found that even small sleep problems in otherwise healthy people decrease the body’s ability to fight off colds.

Sheldon Cohen and Denise Janicki-Deverts (Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), William J. Doyle and Coneyt M. Alper (Department of Otolaryngology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine), and Ronald B. Turner (Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville) wrote up the results of their study in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Their January 12, 2009 paper (volume 169, pages 62-67) “Sleep Habits and Susceptibility to the Common Cold” states the conclusions of their hypothesis.

Specifically, it states that the quantity and quality of sleep is an important factor with maintaining a good immune system, which in turn helps the body fight off the common cold.

Specifically, they wanted to find out how susceptible a person is to colds before that person is exposed to a virus based on the “duration and efficiency” of sleep.

The U.S. researchers studied 153 healthy adult males and females with ages ranging from 21 to 55 years.

Further information about the sleep-cold study is found on page two.