I can only speak from personal experience, but when I've spent the night tossing and turning, I wake up feeling physically and mentally unwell. I'm lethargic, my stomach is queasy, I find it hard to focus, and I'm emotional. But what gets me through the day is knowing that it's temporary. If I get a decent night's sleep that night, tomorrow will be a better day. But I may be in for a rude awakening, as new research shows that just one sleepless night can alter your immune system and increase inflammation, contributing to a host of major diseases.
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A new study connects sleep deprivation to immune function and inflammation.
A new study published in The Journal of Immunology analyzed the relationship between sleep deprivation, obesity, and systemic inflammation.
To arrive at their findings, the researchers enlisted 237 healthy participants, who were categorized by body mass index (BMI). The participants were given wearable accelerometers that tracked their dietary intake, physical activity, and sleep patterns.
Researchers then collected blood samples to understand how these habits affected inflammation markers and levels of monocytes, "a vital component of the innate immune system—the body’s first line of defense that rapidly detects pathogens and kickstarts the immune response," according to a press release.
Just one night of sleep deprivation altered the monocytes of young, lean, and healthy individuals. Thus, their immune systems resembled the obese participants, who had "significantly lower sleep quality and higher chronic low-grade inflammation compared to the lean group."
In other words, a single bad night of sleep can affect one's immune system and inflammation levels, regardless of how otherwise healthy they are.
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This immune response can increase the risk of certain diseases.
The findings suggest that "the immune system is highly sensitive to sleep and may adapt rapidly to changes in sleep pattern," states the press release. Therefore, researchers worry that prolonged sleep deprivation can lead to long-term inflammation and an increased risk of diseases, specifically obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
"Our findings underscore a growing public health challenge. Advancements in technology, prolonged screen time, and shifting societal norms are increasingly disruptive to regular sleeping hours," said lead study author Fatema Al-Rashed, a scientist at the Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait, in a statement. "This disruption in sleep has profound implications for immune health and overall well-being."
Al-Rashed said further research is needed to understand "the mechanisms linking sleep deprivation to immune changes" and how sleep therapies and/or educational campaigns can improve sleep patterns. "Ultimately, this could help mitigate the burden of inflammatory diseases like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases," she concluded.
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The takeaway:
A new study showed that just one night of sleep deprivation negatively affected otherwise healthy individuals' immune systems and inflammation levels, which may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases over time.
