Turns out, how much sleep you get in the days before and after inoculation has a deep link with how robust the vaccine may be in protecting you, according to a new study that has examined the association between the body's response to vaccination and the sleep duration. The multi-institution study published in Current Biology on March 13 found that sleeping fewer than six hours per night around the time of vaccination was linked to a decrease in antibody response. Adults are typically suggested to get at least seven to nine hours of sleep every night. The research included data on the relationship between sleep duration and antibody responses for influenza and hepatitis vaccines. However, there was no comparable data on Covid-19 vaccination. But researchers said their study emphasises the need to recognise simple behavioural interventions, such as sufficient sleep, which can improve the response to Covid-19 vaccination amid the ongoing pandemic. The weakened antibody response for those with shortened sleep was akin to the decrease in Covid-19 antibodies two months after the vaccination with the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech shots. "We have previously found that cognitive behavioural therapy, as well as mindfulness, robustly improve insomnia," said Michael Irwin, MD, a study co-author and director of the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, adding that although it is not yet known whether insomnia treatment can augment vaccination responses. Adding to this, Dr Satish Koul, director of Internal Medicine, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon told indianexpress.com that a larger randomised control trial will help understand how vaccinations are affected by sleep, but it needs no retelling that adequate sleep is required to boost the body's immune function. "A vaccine stimulates our immune system to produce antibodies against the antigen, viral or bacterial. So, for the immune system to properly work, it requires enough sleep, regular exercise for at least one hour every day, limited alcohol intake and no smoking. This boosts the vaccination's efficacy to develop immunity against the virus," he said. Similarly, Dr Shuchin Bajaj, Founder and Director, Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals said, "During sleep, the body produces cytokines, which are proteins that help fight off infection, inflammation, and stress. Lack of sleep can decrease the production of these cytokines and make it harder for the body to fight off infections." The researchers also studied the data according to sex, as women usually have a stronger vaccination response than men. While there was a strong association between sleep duration and antibody response in men, they said they needed more data for women because the study did not control variations in sex hormone levels which affect immune function. Moreover, large-scale studies are needed to determine when people should get sufficient sleep to enhance the vaccine response around the time of inoculation, the researchers said. 📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don't miss out on the latest updates!
