• ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS SYSTEM
  • Yoga Sequence Builder
  • HOME YOGA PRACTICE APP
  • About Olga
  • Virtual Yoga Studio
  • FAQs
  • Contact
  • Sign up
  • Log in

Sequence Wiz

Every yoga practice must have purpose, order and meaning

  • yoga for your body
  • yoga for your energy
  • yoga for your mind
  • How to design a practice
  • Sequencing basics
  • Teaching tips
  • Yoga “snacks”
  • teachers’ stories

Is it easier to catch a cold when you are sleep-deprived?

5
  • by olgakabel
  • in yoga for your body
  • — 4 Jul, 2018

Oh the things the scientists will do in the name of research! Dr. Aric Prather at the University of California, San Francisco, had set out to investigate the effect of sleep deprivation on the immune system. First he studied the sleep habits of 150 healthy willing participants for a week, then quarantined them and squirted a generous dose of rhinovirus (that causes common cold) straight up their noses. Then he monitored them in the laboratory for the following week, gathering every drop of their snot, as well as blood and saliva samples. He wanted to see if the amount of sleep the participants got prior to being exposed to the virus was linked to whether or not they got sick. Turns out – it absolutely did.

“There was a clear, linear relationship with infection rate. The less sleep an individual was getting in the week before facing the active common cold virus, the more likely it was that they would be infected and catch a cold. In those sleeping five hours on average, the infection rate was almost 50 percent. In those sleeping seven hours or more a night in the week prior, the infection rate was just 18 percent.” (1). So to prevent yourself from getting sick more often, in addition to common-knowledge measures like frequent hand washing, it might be useful to analyze your sleep habits and give yourself more time in bed, especially when the flu season rolls in.

getting sick more often

And of course, if you do get sick, your body will demand more sleep, and you should listen. Matthew Walker, PhD writes “Sleep fights against infection and sickness by deploying all manner of weaponry within your immune arsenal, cladding you with protection. When you do fall ill, the immune system actively stimulates the sleep system, demanding more bed rest to help reinforce the war effort. Reduce sleep even for a single night, and that invisible suit of immune resilience is rudely stripped from your body.” (1)

Another interesting study conducted in 2002 had demonstrated that sleep also impacts your response to a flu vaccine. The effectiveness of the vaccine is measured by the degree of the antibody reaction that your immune system is able to generate. The scientists had discovered that participants who slept an average of 7-9 hours a night “generated a powerful antibody reaction, reflecting a robust, healthy immune system.”(1) And those who had their sleep restricted to four hours a night for 6 days prior produced less then 50% of the immune reaction compared to their well-rested counterparts. And even if those folks tried to catch up on their sleep for two or even three weeks after the vaccine was administered, they never developed a full immune reaction to it. That ship had sailed. Once you miss the benefit, it’s gone.

Another aspect of your immune system that is affected by lack of sleep is the natural killer cells. The job of natural killer cells is to identify dangerous foreign invaders and get rid of them. Unfortunately, Dr. Michael Irwin from the University of California, Los Angeles, had demonstrated that even “a single night of four hours of sleep – such as going to bed at three am and waking up at seven am – swept away 70 percent of the natural killer cells circulating in the immune system, relative to a full eight-hour night of sleep.”(1) This is a serious immune deficiency that can have wide ranging consequences. Lack of natural killer cells is one mechanism through which the risk of cancer might increase; another one is linked to chronic inflammation that can be a result of ongoing sympathetic activation. Cancer cells can use inflammation to promote tumor growth, increase tumor’s potency and spread to other parts of the body. For example, Dr. David Gozal at the University of Chicago conducted experiments on mice that showed that “sleep fragmentation enhanced tumor size and weight compared with control mice.”

While all this research can sound scary, there is no need to be alarmed. It just proves what we’ve known all along – sufficient sleep is necessary for optimal health, including immune function. And many yoga teachers and yoga students know this already, yet have trouble GETTING sufficient sleep. Next week we will begin the conversation about what factors might be messing up your sleep and what we can do to remedy that. Tune in!

[jetpack_subscription_form]

References

  1. Why do we sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
  2. Behaviorally Assessed Sleep and Susceptibility to the Common Cold by Aric A. Prather, PhD etal.
  3. Is Insomnia a Risk Factor for Decreased Influenza Vaccine Response? by Daniel J. Taylor,Kimberly Kelly,Marian L. Kohut, and  Kai-Sheng Song
  4. Why Sleep Is Important for Health: A Psychoneuroimmunology Perspective by Michael R. Irwin
  5. Fragmented Sleep Accelerates Tumor Growth and Progression through Recruitment of Tumor-Associated Macrophages and TLR4 Signaling by David Gozal etal.

 

Tags: catching a coldlack of sleepsleep and immunityyoga for immunity

You may also like...

  • What do your students need in their yoga right now? 17 Jun, 2020
  • A smart way to relieve muscle tension 4 Jul, 2013
  • External factors that are messing up your sleep: Part 1 25 Jul, 2018
  • What’s more important – your hamstrings or your liver? Panchamaya (koshas) model 11 Jun, 2014

5 Comments

  1. Victoria says:
    July 4, 2018 at 2:11 pm

    A great topic Olga

    Reply
  2. Neal Ghoshal says:
    July 4, 2018 at 6:14 pm

    Great article – thanks Olga – really useful. I certainly notice the difference when I go to bed at time when I know I will get 8 hours – I feel better, more energized, more awake and stay well during the winter months. Good to read the research too.

    Reply
    • olgakabel says:
      July 12, 2018 at 10:48 am

      Yep, I totally agree. I feel like I need even more sleep in the water months, I guess it’s my hibernating stage 🙂

      Reply
  3. Bronwyn Howlett says:
    July 4, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    I have experienced chronic insomnia for a very long period in my life where no medication works. However one of my best remedy’s I feel has been yoga. I cannot remember when I last had the flu(maybe a slight cold a couple of years ago). People all around me have had the flu or a cold and Ive been lucky enough to escapeit. I dont get flu shots. Im not saying yoga helps me go to sleep but it helps keep my sanity and it is self love for myself which helps me combat the affects of sleep deprivation. What Im gettingat is I feel my imune system is strong because of yoga.

    Reply
    • olgakabel says:
      July 12, 2018 at 10:46 am

      Hi Bronwyn! I have no doubt that yoga can be useful for keeping the immune system strong. I am sorry to hear about your insomnia. It seems to me that folks like yourself who cannot get enough sleep have to work harder to get those same benefits from other places, like their yoga practice for example. I am so glad to hear that it works for you.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Previous story Sleep for heart health: even one hour makes a difference
  • Next story How dreaming helps us get over traumatic experiences (or not)
  • Securely store and easily manage all your class and student records

  • JUST RELEASED

  • Check out our redesigned home yoga practice app

  • Create effective yoga practices online using customizable stick figure images

  • EDUCATIONAL YOGA SERIES

  • THERAPEUTIC YOGA SERIES

  • GET OUR BEST STORIES
    in a monthly newsletter
  • MAXIMIZE THE EFFECT OF YOUR PRACTICE

  • Reignite your home yoga practice

  • Popular posts

    • 20 superposes that carry maximum benefit with minimum risk

    • Three ways to protect your shoulders in your daily life and yoga practice

    • Four steps to minimize the stress placed on the intervertebral disks

    • Vital Vagus: What is the vagus nerve and what does it do?

    • 3 types of pain in the butt and what you can do about it

    • Too many asymmetrical poses can create sacroiliac joint issues

    • Rolling up from a standing forward bend can damage your spine

  • Archives

        © Copyright 2013-2020 Sequence Wiz - resources for yoga teachers and yoga enthusiasts | Privacy Policy