Sleeping too much or too little might make you sick: Study

A good night’s sleep may help with a range of problems, but recent research reveals that it may also lessen your vulnerability to illness.

A good night’s sleep may fix a variety of issues, but recent research suggests that sleeping well may make you less susceptible to illness. Researchers at the University of Bergen enlisted the help of medical students working in doctors’ offices to distribute brief questionnaires to patients, inquiring about sleep quality and recent illnesses. Patients who reported sleeping too little or too much were more likely to have a recent illness, and patients who had persistent sleeping issues were more likely to require antibiotics.

“Most previous experimental studies have looked at the link between sleeping and infection in a sample of the general population,” said Dr. Ingeborg Forthun, the study’s corresponding author. “We sought to look at this link among primary care cases, where we know the frequency of sleeping difficulties is significantly higher than in the general population.”  “We sought to look at this link among primary care patients, where we know the frequency of sleeping difficulties is significantly higher than in the general population.”

There is already evidence that sleep issues increase the likelihood of infection: in a recent study, participants who were intentionally infected with rhinovirus were less likely to acquire a cold if they reported getting enough sleep. Sleep disorders are prevalent and curable, and if a relationship between infection and a mechanism can be established, it may be feasible to reduce antibiotic use and protect patients from infections before they occur. Yet, laboratory research cannot replicate real-life situations.

Forthun and her colleagues handed a questionnaire to medical students and instructed them to distribute it to patients in the waiting rooms of general practitioners’ surgeries where the students were working. In all, 1,848 questionnaires were gathered across Norway. People were asked to explain their sleep quality (how long they generally sleep, how well they feel they sleep, and when they like to sleep) as well as if they had any illnesses or took antibiotics in the previous three months. The survey also included a scale for detecting cases of persistent insomnia.

The researchers found that people who reported sleeping fewer than six hours a night were 27% more likely to have an infection, while those who slept more than nine hours were 44% more likely to report one. Fewer than six hours of sleep per night, or persistent insomnia, increases the likelihood of needing an antibiotic to treat an illness.

“The increased chance of reporting an illness among individuals who reported short or extended sleep duration is not surprising given that having an infection can produce both poor sleep and tiredness,” Forthun explained. “Yet, the higher risk of infection among those with chronic insomnia implies that the direction of this link also flows the other way; being sleep deprived may make you more susceptible to infection.”

The study design allowed for the collection of data from a sizable study group dealing with real-world circumstances, despite some bias in that people’s recall of sleep or recent health issues is not always perfect, and no clinical information was collected from the doctors who subsequently saw the patients.

We don’t know why the patients went to their doctors; it’s possible that an underlying medical condition influences both the risk of inadequate sleep and the chance of infection, but we don’t think this can entirely explain our findings, according to Forthun.

She continued, ” Insomnia is veritably common among cases in primary care but set up to be under-honored by general interpreters. “Increased mindfulness of the significance of sleep, not only for general well-being but for cases’ health, is demanded both among cases and general interpreters.”