Sleeping Less Than 7 Hours Per Night Increases Common Cold Risk (Interview with Dr. Sheldon Cohen, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University)

(January 12, 2009 - Insidermedicine) Getting at least 8 hours of sleep may help stave off the common cold, according to research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Here are some tips to help you sleep well:

• Go to bed only when you are tired.

• Avoid taking naps. If you can't get through the day without one, limit them to less than one hour, before 3 PM.

• Get up and go to sleep at the same time every day.

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University interviewed over 150 healthy adults about their sleep habits. They then quarantined each person and gave them nasal drops containing the cold virus.

Those who slept less than 7 hours a night were nearly three times as likely to develop cold symptoms as those who slept 8 hours or more. Those who spent less than 92% of their time in bed asleep were over five times as likely to develop cold symptoms than those who spent 98% or more of this time asleep.

In the following podcast, Dr. Sheldon Cohen, the principal investigator of this study, offered some further insight.

Today's research adds to the mounting evidence that a good night's sleep is important for optimum health. It is possible that sleep helps regulate the changes that occur in the body that cause symptoms of illness.