When people sleep for six hours or less each night, they are four times more likely to catch a cold when exposed to the virus compared to people who get more than seven hours of shuteye, according to research published in the journal Sleep and covered by the UCSF News Center.
The study involved researchers from UC San Francisco, Carnegie Mellon University and UPMC in Pittsburgh. They recruited 164 volunteers in Pittsburgh between 2007 and 2011, who, after undergoing health screenings, filling out questionnaires and having their sleep patterns monitored, were sequestered in a hotel and given the cold virus via nose drops. Researchers then observed them for a week and collected mucus samples daily to see if the subjects caught a cold.
They found that people who slept less than six hours a night the week before were 4.2 times more likely to get a cold compared to people who got more than seven hours of sleep. Those who slept less than five hours nightly were even worse off, as they were 4.5 times more likely to get sick.
"It goes beyond feeling groggy or irritable. Not getting enough sleep fundamentally affects your physical health," Aric Prather, PhD, lead author of the study, told the UCSF News Center.