Good Night's Sleep May Benefit Immune System
 (NY, Reuters Health, 10/20/03)

Dr. Jan Born of the University of Luebeck, and team, studied the immune response of 19 adults by having half the subjects stay awake through the night and into the next evening following vaccination for Hepatitis A; while the other half got a full night's sleep. The researchers then periodically tested Hepatitis A antibodies in the blood of the subjects for 4 weeks. The investigators found that the sleep-deprived participants had a weaker immune response to the vaccine than their peers, suggesting that adequate sleep may help the immune system to respond more vigorously to infection. After 28 days, the sleep-deprived group still had only half the antibody level, or titer, compared to the other subjects, showing that losing as little as one night's sleep can significantly affect immune function.