Mixed
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.
Maintain 7-8 hours of sleep to support your body's natural anti-tumor defenses. Sleep deprivation reduces the activity of Natural Killer (NK) cells and CD8+ T cells, which are critical for identifying and destroying cancer cells. While sleep alone is not a cure, chronic restriction creates an immunosuppressive environment that may facilitate cancer development.
A reduced cytotoxic activity of natural killer (NK) cells... has been reported in 72 h sleep-deprived mice... accompanied by reduced numbers of the cytotoxic cells such as CD8 T cells and NK cells in the tumor microenvironment after chronic sleep deprivation.
Why this rating
Strong animal data and epidemiological associations, but human causal mechanisms are less definitively established than for infection.
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 (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.Good
- Sleep deprivation accelerates the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's, by impairing the glymphatic clearance of beta-amyloid (Aβ) and increasing neuroinflammation.Good
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