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Immune System Works Better at Night

Greater Success Fighting Infection Than During the Day, Study Says

Jan 15, 2009 Scott Rupp

The immune system repairs the body better at night during a good sleep. But for people not sleeping well, these five tips may make then feel better.

A good night's sleep really does a sick body good, new research says.

Stanford University research with fruit flies reveals that the immune system fights invading bacteria the hardest at night and the least during the day. The findings were to be presented in December 2008 at the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting, in San Francisco.

“These results suggest that immunity is stronger at night, consistent with the hypothesis that circadian proteins up-regulate restorative functions such as specific immune responses during sleep, when animals are not engaged in metabolically costly activities,” Stanford researcher Mimi Shirasu-Hiza said in a news release issued by the conference organizers.

Circadian rhythm paces the human body as well as the fruit fly, running internal clock's time for eating and rest every day. Circadian rhythm is a daily rhythmic activity cycle, based on 24-hour intervals, that is exhibited by many organisms.

The researchers noted that previous experiments with flies found that bacterial infection threw off the insects’ circadian rhythm, and not having this internal clock working properly made them highly susceptible to infection.

In this experiment, the researchers infected the flies with two different bacteria at different times of day or night. Those infected at night were more likely to survive than those infected during the day. The researchers also detected low "phagocytic" activity -- the body's innate immune response -- in flies with a corrupt circadian clock.

What is the Immune System?

The immune system protects its body from intruders: bacteria, viruses, parasites, cancer cells, and the like. An immune system is present in several animal groups, especially within the vertebrates. Animals have both non-specific and specific defense mechanisms to fight invaders.

Non-specific defense mechanisms work against a wide variety of invaders. These defense mechanisms include the barrier formed by human skin; chemicals in perspiration, skin oil, saliva, tears; the hairs in nostrils; in respiratory tracts; and fever, a raised body temperature to inhibit the growth of pathogens.

Specific defense mechanisms are effective against specific pathogens.

Tips For Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

According to Inc. Magazine, the following five tips will help people get a full night’s sleep.

Cut the Booze

Stop drinking alcohol and coffee, and quit smoking. They take a toll on the body and make sleep more evasive, especially if take six hours before bed.

Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants -- a cup of coffee can affect a person for up to 12 hours and nicotine withdrawl during sleep has been linked to morning grogginess as well as nightmares. A drink might help a person fall asleep, but it can increase the number of times a person wakes up at night.

Get Moving

Regular exercise is a great way to help the body sleep. People who exercise 30 minutes four times a week were able to cut the length of time it took them to fall asleep by an average of 15 minutes.

Don’t have the time for a full on work out? Try a brisk afternoon walk. It will have the same effect by waking the body up, yet helping the fitful sleeper slip into dreamland.

Keep On Schedule

Going to bed and waking up the same time everyday, even on weekends, will help a person gain a consistent night’s sleep. Cutting the distractions, such as allowing light or music into the bedroom might disturb sleep. Close the windows, shades, and find a way to turn off the music. If that doesn’t work, buy a cheap pair of ear plugs and get a visor to block out light.

Don’t Bring the Work Home

Work, of any kind, is better left at the office. Bringing it home will not help make a person feel better. In most cases, even if the work gets done, it won’t be a quality product and the person completing the project will feel even worse because of the valuable sleep time lost while working.

If a person can’t get the thought of work out of their heads, they should think relaxing thoughts, or get up and do something low impact until they feel ready to try again.

Napping

Babies are not the only people that should nap. A nap as short as 10 minutes can make a major difference in one’s ability to concentrate, focus and maintain their energy.

So, for a healthier body and immune system, find a way to get a good night’s sleep. Following these five tips, among others, may make the difference in a person’s chance of fending off colds, fatigue and other ailments.

Reference:

“How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep,” By Max Chafkin, Inc. Magazine, Sept. 2, 2005.

The copyright of the article Immune System Works Better at Night in General Medicine is owned by Scott Rupp. Permission to republish Immune System Works Better at Night in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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