Prone to catching colds? It might be a good idea to get more rest.
A new study spearheaded by a University of California, San Francisco sleep researcher suggests that people who sleep less than six hours per night are four more times likely to get a cold when exposed to a virus than those who sleep more.
Aric Prather, PhD, assistant professor of Psychiatry at UCSF, collaborated with researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
“Short sleep was more important than any other factor in predicting subjects’ likelihood of catching cold,” Prather said in an announcement of the study, published in the September issue of the journal "Sleep." “It didn't matter how old people were, their stress levels, their race, education or income. It didn't matter if they were a smoker. With all those things taken into account, statistically sleep still carried the day.”
An announcement on the UCSF News Center cited a National Sleep Foundation study that says 20 percent of Americans get less than six hours of sleep per night and noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers insufficient sleep a "public health hazard."
And the numbers go up quickly. The study also found that subjects who slept less than five hours per night are 4.5 times more likely to catch a cold when introduced to a virus.
“It goes beyond feeling groggy or irritable,” Prather said. “Not getting sleep fundamentally affects your physical health.”
