{"id":2595,"date":"2019-01-09T21:16:44","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T21:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bettersleep.org\/?p=2595"},"modified":"2024-02-13T15:31:54","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T15:31:54","slug":"sleep-when-youre-sick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bettersleep.org\/blog\/sleep-when-youre-sick\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleep When You\u2019re Sick"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/p>\n

Tough out your cold. Have plenty of chicken soup. Take zinc tablets the instant you feel a scratchy throat coming on. Eat a clove of raw garlic. (Ew.) With cold and flu season entering a fever pitch, you\u2019re bound to hear countless tips like these on how to deal with an illness. But making sure you\u2019re getting sleep when you\u2019re sick is the one thing you absolutely must do to get over your illness.<\/p>\n

Sleep Well Even When You\u2019re Not<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Getting restful, recuperative sleep is one of the best ways we can help our immune systems battle illness.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the molecules and substances that circulate in our body and also within cells overlap between immune function and sleep,\u201d says David Rapoport, MD, director of the sleep medicine program at New York University School of Medicine. \u201cSo it\u2019s not at all surprising that they affect each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

One way sleep and the immune system interact with one another is through fever. Our bodies use fever as a physiological defense to fight infection. During sleep, we can get a better fever response. That means it\u2019s more efficient for our bodies to take on unwelcomed germs and viruses when we\u2019re asleep.<\/p>\n

More Sneeze Than Zzz\u2019s<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Get sick, get to bed, get better. Sounds simple enough. Having a cold or the flu is so annoying, you wish you could just sleep through the misery and wake up after you\u2019re feeling better. But it\u2019s not always easy to sleep when you\u2019re coughing, can\u2019t breathe and you have to blow your nose every half hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany cold and flu symptoms seem to get worse at night, and they can interfere with sleep just at the critical time when your body needs rest the most,\u201d says sleep expert Michael Breus, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Great. So now you need to find a cure for lost sleep, too?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry. The Better Sleep Council is here to help \u2013 through sickness and in health. We\u2019ve compiled some proven tips and strategies to improve your chances of getting better sleep when you\u2019re sick.<\/p>\n