Does Sleep Help the Immune System?

There are plenty of reasons to get a good night’s sleep, and one of them is that it can help the immune system. Many studies have shown the many benefits of sleeping well, and now researchers understand that it can improve the function of immune cells known as T cells. These cells help the body fight against cells infected by viruses, such as flu, HIV, herpes, and cancer cells. Sleep can boost the effectiveness of T cells, and the T cells play a big part in our immune system. A lack of sleep, however, causes stress hormones to inhibit the effectiveness of these T cells.

There’s even more to it than all that. During sleep, the immune system releases proteins called cytokines which can promote sleep. Some cytokines need to increase when a person is sick. Sleep deprivation can decrease the production of these cytokines, which can affect the immune system further. Some studies have shown that people who don’t get enough sleep or quality sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus, and a lack of sleep can affect how quickly people recover after getting sick.

Adults need at least seven hours of sleep each night to stay healthy. Less sleep than that can affect the immune system. Also, less than five hours of sleep a night over time is associated with a higher mortality. There are many, many other issues associated with poor sleep, so getting the right amount of it each night can be vital. Sometimes poor sleep is a result of a sleep disorder or another issue, and this is an area where Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders can help a great deal!

If necessary, we can refer patients for sleep studies to help identify sleep disorders and other issues, but often we can help patients right at our clinic. For example, we can help with sleep apnea by providing oral appliance therapy. This treatment is simple, easy, comfortable, and very effective in very many cases of sleep apnea, as well as cases of TMJ (jaw joint) disorder. This disorder can affect sleep significantly, but oral appliance therapy can treat it very effectively. The treatment is approved by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and we’re very happy to be able to provide it here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders.

Sleep can absolutely help your immune system and your overall health, so when sleep is compromised, your body is too. If you or a loved one isn’t sleeping so well for whatever reason, then come see us here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders. Our clinic has multiple locations throughout the U.S. in Bloomington IL, Peoria – Dunlap IL, Mishawaka IN, Kansas City MO, El Paso TX and Wausau WI. You can call us to learn more about us or to book a consultation with us at any of our locations, or you can book your consultation online from our Appointments page.

We look forward to hearing from you soon here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders!