Getting enough sleep at night may help reduce people’s risk of contracting COVID-19, as well as of developing more serious illnesses, new research suggests.
The study included more than 2,800 frontline health professionals in six countries that have been regularly exposed to COVID-19 from last spring to last fall. He found that for each additional hour of sleep workers had at night, the risk of COVID-19 dropped by 12%.
And those who said they were fighting self-reported exhaustion were at greater risk of contracting the virus. They also tended to be sick longer and were more likely than those who said they were not burned to become seriously ill.
“Lack of sleep, severe sleep problems and exhaustion can all be risk factors for COVID-19 in healthcare professionals,” said Steven Holfinger, a sleep medicine specialist at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, who has not worked on the new study.
Holfinger added that he thinks “additional research to better define this risk would be useful” and cautioned against jumping to conclusions based on the new study, which was recently published in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention, and Health.
On the one hand, the study does not necessarily explain all the reasons why exhausted health workers may be more likely to contract COVID-19. For example, they may simply have seen more patients. Holinger also noted that the pandemic has evolved so much since last spring, particularly with the emergence of new variants, that “data must be interpreted with caution” today.
However, the new research is not the first to suggest that there is a link between sleep and the risk of COVID-19.
A small study in China found that people who didn’t get much sleep in the week before they started taking COVID-19 appeared to have more severe outcomes. Researchers are also exploring the possibility that melatonin, the hormone that plays a crucial role in the sleep-wake cycle, may help to delay COVID-19.
Again, these investigations – and others – are inconclusive, and experts warn against over-interpretations. It’s not that having a good night’s sleep is all you need to delay COVID-19.
But sleep It’s an important factor in immune function.
“As our bodies fight infection, we release cytokines that promote sleep, causing an increase in sleep during infections,” said Holfinger. “We assume that this is advantageous for our immune system in fighting infections, so the current hypothesis is that sleep is beneficial for our immune health.”
And during a pandemic, when so many factors that determine the individual risk of COVID-19 are totally beyond anyone’s control, it is tempting to consider that there may be another health habit that many (though certainly not all) of us have some direct agency with. on .
As writer James Hamblin, a certified physician specializing in public health, asked in a recent Atlantic article on sleep and the COVID-19 connection: “It’s one of the most glaring omissions in public health guidelines now, simply to tell people to sleep more? “
Unfortunately, even in times without a pandemic, millions of Americans do not get enough rest. One-third of adults fall short of the recommended seven or more hours a night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and estimates say that 1 in 4 Americans develop insomnia during a given year. The CDC declared sleep disorders a public health crisis, even before COVID-19.
And during the pandemic, Americans are sleeping even less.
Experts have coined a new term for sleep problems in the coronavirus era: “coronasomnia” (also “COVID-somnia”). Prescriptions for sleeping medications have increased. People are struggling with significant chronic stress and are isolated. Emerging evidence also suggests that the virus itself makes sleep difficult for those who have recovered, particularly long-distance COVID-19s.
Obviously, the main means of preventing the transmission of COVID-19 remain the same as always: masking, hand washing, social distance and generalized vaccination.
But, to the extent that people can, they should also prioritize sleep. Even though ongoing research on sleep and the COVID-19 link does not demonstrate a linear connection, sleep is, in many ways, the foundation of physical and mental health.
“It is very common for people to not allow themselves enough time in bed at night. People who intentionally cause sleep deprivation (staying up late watching TV or waking up early to be productive) are therefore probably reducing their immune system’s response to infections, ”said Holfinger.
“Avoiding sleep deprivation is likely to not only help your immune system, but it will also help your overall quality of life.”
Experts are still learning about COVID-19. The information in this story is what was known or available at the time of publication, but the orientation may change as scientists discover more about the virus. Check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the most up-to-date recommendations.