• Question: Does loss of sleep depress immunity?

    Asked by Nico ;-) to Sian, Max, Lizzie, Francis, Ben on 12 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Ben Mulhearn

      Ben Mulhearn answered on 12 Mar 2018:

      We know that good sleep is really important for a healthy brain, and that your brain controls your hormones (through the pituitary gland which is just on the bottom of the brain. Now, if your sleep is disturbed, some hormones may go up, such as CORTISOL, which is the stress hormone. This can definitely affect the immune system. There will be other reasons why loss of sleep depresses immunity that we don’t know of yet, and that’s why science is really important!

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