Immune system affected by sleep - Zeepharmacy.co

25 July 2013, USA (http://www.zeepharmacy.co): According to a new study, Sleep deprivation jolts the immune system into action in the same type of immediate response shown during exposure to physical stress. The researchers compared the white blood cell counts of 15 healthy young men under normal and severely sleep-deprived conditions.

The greatest changes were seen in the white blood cells known as granulocytes, which indicated a loss of day-night rhythmicity, along with increased numbers, peculiarly at night. Previous studies associated sleep deprivation with diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Other studies indicate that sleep helps maintain the functioning of the immune system and that chronic sleep loss is a risk factor for immune system impairment.

White blood cells were measured from 15 young men following a strict schedule of eight hours of sleep every day for a week. The men were subjected to at least 15 minutes of outdoor light within the first 90 minutes of waking and prohibited from using caffeine, medication during the final three days, or alcohol.

After 29 hours of constant wakefulness, the researchers took blood samples from the young men to compare white blood cell counts with the counts found during the normal sleep/wake cycle. The granulocytes reacted immediately to the physical stress of sleep loss and directly mirrored the body’s stress responds. Future research will reveal the molecular mechanisms behind this immediate stress response and elucidate its role in the development of diseases associated with chronic sleep loss.

If affirmed with more data, this will have implications for clinical practice and for professions associated with long-term sleep loss, such as rotating shift work.

ZeePharmacy 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC, USA, 20002. 011-6654789986 For more please visit our site Label

Camili Smith is a Medical Student and a freelancer who is specialized in writing. He is associated with many Pharmacies for whom he writes news based on generic drugs like Generic Viagra, generic amoxicillin.