A consistent lack of sleep negatively impacts immune stem cells, increasing risk of inflammatory disorders and heart disease
IMAGE: INSUFFICIENT SLEEP AND THE IMPACT ON IMMUNE STEM CELLS. THE LEFT SIDE OF THE FIGURE SHOWS THE SLEEP TIME OF THE HUMANS IN THE STUDY. PARTICIPANTS IN THE SLEEP RESTRICTION GROUP (THE RED DOTS) SLEPT LESS OVER THE SIX WEEKS. THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE FIGURE THE STEM CELL ANALYSIS. THE FIRST GRAPH SHOWS THAT PEOPLE IN THE SLEEP RESTRICTION GROUP (AGAIN RED DOTS) HAD MORE STEM CELLS. THE REMAINDER OF THE FIGURE REPRESENTS THE ?DNA STRUCTURE AND RE-PROGRAMMING. THE RED AND BLUE COLORS SHOW LOCATIONS IN THE GENOME THAT WERE RE-WIRED. THE BOTTOM ?PEAKS? ARE SPECIFIC GENES THAT RESEARCHERS LOOKED AT AND SHOWS THE RE-WIRING AT THESE LOCATIONS. view more CREDIT: MOUNT SINAI HEALTH SYSTEMChronic, insufficient sleep can negatively affect immune cells, which may lead to inflammatory disorders and cardiovascular disease, according to a new study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. More specifically, consistently losing an hour and a half of sleep a night potentially increases the risk.The research, published September 21 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, is the first to show that sleep alters the structure of DNA inside the immune stem cells that produce white blood cells?also known as immune cells?and this can have a long-lasting impact on inflammation and contribute to inflammatory diseases. Immune cells fight infection, but if the number of these cells gets too high, they overreact and cause inflammation. The study is also t...
