Mixed
Sleep deprivation (defined as <6-7 hours/night or acute/chronic restriction) increases the risk of infectious diseases by impairing innate and adaptive immune responses, including reduced T-cell efficacy and antibody production.
Prioritize getting 7-8 hours of sleep nightly to maintain robust immune function. Chronic sleep restriction (<6 hours) significantly impairs your body's ability to fight off viruses and bacteria, making you more susceptible to respiratory infections and reducing the effectiveness of vaccines. Treat sleep as a critical health intervention, not optional downtime.
Sleep deprivation may result in deregulated immune responses with increased pro-inflammatory signaling, thus contributing to increase the risk for the onset and/or worsening of infection... sleep-deprived humans... are more vulnerable to respiratory infections... and after an experimental viral challenge.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple epidemiological studies, animal models, and experimental viral challenge studies.
Source
Role of sleep deprivation in immune-related disease risk and outcomes
Sergio Garbarino et al. · Communications Biology · 2021
DOI 10.1038/s42003-021-02825-4
More from this paper
- Sleep deprivation increases the risk of cardiometabolic diseases (hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity) by promoting systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, and sympathetic nervous system overactivity.Strong
- Sleep deprivation accelerates the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's, by impairing the glymphatic clearance of beta-amyloid (Aβ) and increasing neuroinflammation.Good
- Sleep deprivation increases the risk of cancer development and progression by suppressing anti-tumor immune responses, specifically reducing Natural Killer (NK) cell activity and CD8+ T-cell numbers.Moderate
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