Sleep To Boost Immunity

Getting adequate sleep is essential for good health, but there’s another benefit you might not be aware of: Your sleep habits may influence the effectiveness of vaccines that you receive, reports the journal Sleep.

In an experiment, researchers provided hepatitis B vaccines to 125 healthy adults, in three doses. Antibody levels were measured before the second and third injections and six months after the final one to see whether participants developed a “clinically protective response.”

People who slept fewer than six hours a night on average were less likely to mount antibody responses than those who had more than seven hours’ sleep, according to the researchers, who say sleep plays an important role in the regulation of the immune system.