Sleep for your Health this Cold and Flu Season

The cold and flu season is quickly approaching. This year it is more important than ever to protect yourself not only from the seasonal flu, but also from the contagious H1N1 virus or “swine flu”.

So what are the easiest ways to avoid contracting the flu?

It may be as easy as practicing good hygiene. Wash your hands, keep your hands away from your face and avoid contact with people who are sick. The CDC also advises getting plenty of sleep to help your body maintain a strong immune system.

A New York Times blog post found that if you are sleeping poorly you are more likely to catch a cold. Scientists think that this relationship highlights the importance of sleep to your health.

A study published earlier this year in the journal Sleep shows that your immune system can be affected by sleep deprivation. Levels of proteins associated with inflammation increase when you are not getting the sleep you need.

In May, the Sleep Education blog reported that people who sleep less than seven hours per night are three times more likely to get sick.

The AASM recommends that adults get seven to eight hours of sleep each night.

Learn more about how sleep can affect you at Sleep Education.com.

Sleep to Keep from Catching a Cold

It turns out that your mother was right all along. Getting more sleep can help you avoid catching a cold.

A new study shows that sleeping less than seven hours per night may make you three times more likely to develop a cold. There also was a link to “sleep efficiency.”

This is the percentage of time in bed that you are asleep. A high efficiency means that almost all your time in bed was spent sleeping. A low efficiency means that you were awake for much of your time in bed. Maybe you had trouble falling asleep. Or you woke up in the middle of the night and struggled to return to sleep.

To find your sleep efficiency, divide your total sleep time by your time in bed. For example, maybe you slept for 6.5 hours of the seven hours you spent in bed. This would give you a sleep efficiency of 93%.

The study found that those with an average sleep efficiency of less than 92% were 5.5 times more likely to develop a cold. Results remained significant after controlling for other factors.

The study involved 153 healthy men and women. They were between 21 and 55 years of age. For 14 days they reported their sleep duration and sleep efficiency from the previous night.

Then they were given nasal drops containing a rhinovirus. Their symptoms were monitored for five days while they were kept in isolation.

You can improve your sleep efficiency by following the tips of good sleep hygiene. Seek help at a sleep center if you have an ongoing problem that keeps you from sleeping well.

Now if only someone would do a study to see if Mom was right about chicken soup. Oh wait – it’s already been done.