Well Slept

Via Well, a sad story for anyone who has trouble getting that regular eight hours of sleep that we're told is optimal (does anyone actually sleep eight hours a night?): we're probably going to get sick, too.

We can tell because some people in a study who slept less than seven hours a night were almost three times as likely to catch a cold as some other people who slept at least eight hours.

As in all things, we must caution against reading too much into the one study referenced, which looked at only 153 people and their responses to cold viruses after their sleep patterns had been observed for two weeks.

This should not be taken either as license for extremes of behavior, which I contend is the main reason we like to read health news stories, or as proof that we're doomed, which is the other popular message. (We are all going to die. But not immediately as a result of poor sleep quality, if judging solely from the information presented.)

Interestingly, "percentage of days feeling rested was not associated with colds," according to the study authors, so you may not even be aware than you're at risk. You could feel just fine, but be an unwitting virus magnet!

Perhaps you're a victim of sleep inefficiency; the people with less than 92% sleep efficiency were five and a half times as likely to catch the cold as the people whose sleep efficiency was 98% or greater.

Five and a half is more than three, you'll notice, so in fact you might be better off getting seven hours of efficient sleep (sleep efficiency is defined simply enough as "percentage of time in bed actually asleep") rather than nine hours of inefficient sleep.

So it's not enough to just be in bed for eight hours. Even being in bed with your eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, will not substitute.

If only that were one of those things that you can actually choose. Yes, I'll take the restful, efficient sleep tonight, thanks! Last night's tossing and turning and waking up every few hours was a lot of fun, but I'm in the mood for something a little quieter this evening.

This actually feels like one of those "stands to reason" type findings. Sure you're more likely to get sick if you're tired and run down. Since common sense sometimes turns out to be wrong, though (thanks, lazy deceitful brain), it can be useful to get some confirmation.

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