HHS HealthBeat (February 19, 2009)

Tired and a cold

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Researchers say getting enough sleep may help protect people from getting a cold. They base this on a study in which they measured duration and quality of sleep over two weeks in 153 volunteers and then exposed each to a virus that causes the cold.

Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University:

"People who usually slept less than 7 hours were about 3 times more likely to get a cold than people who slept 8 hours or more a night." (10 seconds)

The researchers say people who could get to sleep quickly and who did not wake up during the night were less likely to get a cold.

And they say it’s another sign that adequate sleep supports the body’s immune system.

The study in Archives of Internal Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: February, 19 2009