Acute illnesses were more frequent in otherwise healthy adolescents with shorter sleep, and illness events were associated with less sleep during the previous week than comparable matched periods without illness, according to an article published in the Journal of Sleep Research. Illnesses included cold, flu, gastroenteritis, and other common infectious diseases in adolescents during the course of a school semester. Longer sleepers and males reported fewer illness bouts; total sleep time effects were more apparent in males than females. The study’s authors are Kathryn M. Orzech, Christine Acebo, Ronald Seifer, David Barker, and Mary A. Carskadon.
