GET SOME SLEEP!….A new report in the Archives of Internal Medicine says you’ll get fewer colds if you get more sleep. A team of researchers interviewed subjects for 14 days about their sleep the night before, then stuck them in hotel rooms and spritzed some rhinoviruses up their noses. The results:
Participants with less than 7 hours of sleep were 2.94 times [] more likely to develop a cold than those with 8 hours or more of sleep….Participants with less than 92% efficiency were 5.50 times [] more likely to develop a cold than those with 98% or more efficiency.
These relationships could not be explained by differences in prechallenge virus-specific antibody titers, demographics, season of the year, body mass, socioeconomic status, psychological variables, or health practices.
“Efficiency” is the percentage of your night that you actually sleep, as opposed to tossing and turning and getting up to pee. So take a hint from our feline friends: sleep early and often.
