William Atkins
Tuesday, 13 January 2009 22:02
Science -
Health
Page 2 of 4
Over a fourteen-day period, the participants reported to the researchers the quantity of their sleep, along with their sleep efficiency (that is, the percentage of time while in bed that they actually slept) and their sleep quality (“
whether they felt rested”).
The researchers looked at whether the participants tossed and turned (and how much tossing the turning occurred) before falling asleep. They also analyzed whether people sleep more soundly or not at night.
The researchers kept score of each factor during this base period.
Then, each participant was isolated way from others. They were given nasal drops containing a rhinovirus, which provided a start point when the cold virus entered their bodies.
The researchers monitored the participants as to when they first began to develop clinically diagnosed cold symptoms (that is,
“infection in the presence of objective signs of illness”).
The monitoring continued for five days after first exposure to the rhinovirus. Blood tests were given to check for antibodies to the rhinovirus dropped into their bodies.
Page three discusses the conclusions of the study.
