Short sleep linked to common cold

Sleep deprivation seems to increase the risk of contracting the common cold around four fold, according to a study of 164 men and women aged between 18 and 55 years.

Volunteers recorded their sleep patterns for seven consecutive days using wrist actigraphy and diaries. Researchers then administered nasal drops containing rhinovirus and monitored volunteers for five days.

Volunteers who slept for less than five hours were 4.5 times more likely to develop a cold following exposure to the rhinovirus than people sleeping more than seven hours a night. Volunteers who slept for between five and six hours a night were 4.24 times more likely to develop a cold. The 66% increase in those sleeping six to seven hours was not statistically significant. The association between sleep duration and the likelihood of contracting the common cold did not depend on antibody levels before challenge with rhinovirus, demographics, season, body mass index, perceived stress and other psychological variables, or lifestyle practices, such as smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity.