New research finds even short-term sleep loss may interfere with the bodys ability to fight infection

• Researchers from the University of Washington and the Allen Institute found that missing a single night of sleep can quickly affect key parts of the immune system.

• The study found important immune cells became overactive after sleep loss.

• Researchers say even occasional sleep disruption may have bigger health impacts than we think.
  

Weve all had those nights staying up too late to meet a deadline or tossing and turning until morning. But a new study from researchers at the University of Washington and the Allen Institute reveals that even one night of sleep deprivation may be enough to disrupt how your immune system works.

According to the study, a single 24-hour period without sleep altered the behavior of several types of immune cells in healthy young adults. The findings suggest that short-term sleep loss could make the body more vulnerable to illness even if you're generally healthy and well-rested otherwise.

Our findings underscore a growing public health challenge, researcher Dr. Fatema Al-Rashed said in a news release.

Advancements in technology, prolonged screen time, and shifting societal norms are increasingly disruptive to regular sleeping hours. This disruption in sleep has profound implications for immune health and overall well-being.

The study

To find out how sleep affects the immune system, researchers recruited 11 healthy adults between the ages of 20 and 23. Each participant went through two sessions: one where they slept normally and another where they stayed awake for a full 24 hours.

At both sessions, blood samples were taken in the morning to analyze immune activity. The researchers used a detailed genetic analysis technique called single-cell RNA sequencing to study how individual immune cells were behaving after the night of sleep deprivation compared to a normal nights sleep.

The goal was to track whether missing sleep would alter the activity of immune cells especially those responsible for inflammation and responding to infections.

The results

The results were clear: after just one night without sleep, participants showed big changes in their immune cell activity.

Researchers observed that two types of immune cells monocytes and T cells became more active. These cells play key roles in detecting and responding to infections. But in this case, the immune response looked revved up, even without any actual illness present.

The researchers explained that the immune system reacted to sleep loss like it was under threat, even though there was no infection. This kind of overactivation can be a problem over time. If immune cells are constantly in a heightened state, it may lead to chronic inflammation or make it harder for the body to respond appropriately to real threats.

The researchers noted that while more studies are needed to understand long-term effects, this experiment shows how sensitive the immune system is to sleep changes even after just one sleepless night.

In the long term, we aim for this research to drive policies and strategies that recognize the critical role of sleep in public health, Dr. Al-Rashed said.

We envision workplace reforms and educational campaigns promoting better sleep practices, particularly for populations at risk of sleep disruption due to technological and occupational demands. Ultimately, this could help mitigate the burden of inflammatory diseases like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

New research shows an unexpected link between shingles vaccination and lower dementia risk

A shingles vaccine was tied to a 20% drop in new dementia cases over seven years.

The U.K. rollout created a natural experiment using birthdate eligibility.

Reduction was especially strong in women, beyond the effects on shingles itself.

Researchers at Stanford Medicine dove into health records from older adults in Wales to explore the link between the shingles vaccine and the risk of dementia.

They focused on those eligible for the live-attenuated shingles vaccine (Zostavax) based on an exact birthdate cutoff: anyone born on or after September 2, 1933 was eligible, while those born just before werent.

Because both groups were nearly identical in age, health, and behavior except for vaccine eligibility this setup acted like a natural randomized trial.

The result? Receiving the shingles vaccine was associated with a 20% lower chance of developing dementia over the next seven years, even after accounting for who actually got vaccinated.

All these associational studies suffer from the basic problem that people who get vaccinated have different health behaviors than those who dont, researcher Pascal Geldsetzer, M.D., Ph.D., said in a news release. In general, theyre seen as not being solid enough evidence to make any recommendations on.

The study

For the study, the researchers used a regression discontinuity design it allows them to compare people who are alike except for being eligible for vaccination. By looking at those born just before and after the September 1933 cutoff, they ensured both groups were very similar. One group had a 47.2% vaccination rate, while the other had only 0.01%.

Health records were tracked for seven years, noting new dementia diagnoses. To make sure the vaccine itself was the key difference, they checked that the groups didnt differ in other diseases, doctor visits, or preventive health behavior. They even used alternative analyses to confirm the findings held up no matter how they looked at the data .

The study

The researchers found that there were fewer dementia cases overall. Being eligible for the vaccine cut new dementia diagnoses by 1.3 percentage points, or about 8.5% fewer cases.

In participants who actually got the shot, the reduction jumped to 3.5 points, a 20% drop in dementia risk.

It was a really striking finding, Dr. Geldsetzer said in the news release. This huge protective signal was there, any which way you looked at the data.

The team also learned that women had greater protective cognitive benefits than men. Though the vaccine lowered dementia risk for both sexes, the effect was significantly stronger in women.

What this means for you

The findings highlight a bonus to getting your shingles vaccine: the potential to protect your brain. Scientists are still trying to figure out why it works whether its because the vaccine stops inflammation-causing shingles outbreaks, or if the vaccine primes the immune system in a way that wards off dementia.

While the study is robust, with careful methods that reduce bias, its still observational. That means it can show a strong connection, but not absolute proof. The researchers stress the need for randomized clinical trials before making firm claims.

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