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StillnessHealth fact

Sleeping too little in the days around a vaccination can weaken the immune response to it. In controlled studies, people whose sleep was cut short made fewer antibodies, the proteins that recognise a germ, than people who slept normally.

Spiegel et al., Current Biology, 2023

HealthScience

The story behind the card

In a 2002 study, young men allowed only four hours' sleep a night for six nights around a flu jab had about half the antibody level of well-rested men ten days later. In another, people who stayed awake the night after a hepatitis A jab had about half the antibody level four weeks later of those who slept. A 2012 study of hepatitis B vaccination found that people who slept under six hours a night were less likely to be protected at the end of the course. A 2023 review of such studies confirmed the link, most clearly in men. Sleep seems to help the immune system turn a first encounter with a vaccine into lasting memory.

Türkçe oku
Aşı olunan günlerde az uyumak, vücudun aşıya verdiği bağışıklık yanıtını zayıflatabilir. Kontrollü çalışmalarda uykusu kısıtlanan kişiler, normal uyuyanlara göre daha az antikor, yani mikropları tanıyan protein üretti.
Spiegel ve ark., Current Biology, 2023

2002'deki bir çalışmada, grip aşısı öncesinde ve sonrasında altı gece boyunca yalnızca dörder saat uyuyabilen genç erkeklerde, on gün sonra ölçülen antikor düzeyi iyi uyuyanlarınkinin yaklaşık yarısıydı. Bir başka çalışmada, hepatit A aşısından sonraki geceyi uykusuz geçirenlerin dört hafta sonraki antikor düzeyi, uyuyanlarınkinin yaklaşık yarısı kadardı. 2012'deki bir hepatit B çalışmasında da gecede altı saatten az uyuyanların, aşı dizisi tamamlandığında korunmuş olma olasılığı daha düşüktü. Bu çalışmaları bir araya getiren 2023 tarihli bir inceleme ilişkiyi doğruladı; etki en açık biçimde erkeklerde görüldü. Uyku, bağışıklık sisteminin aşıyla ilk karşılaşmayı kalıcı bir hafızaya dönüştürmesine yardım ediyor gibi görünüyor.

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Background reading: Sleep and immunity
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