Inflammation is the body’s natural response to disease and injury. When you come down with a respiratory infection or cut yourself, your immune system activates white blood cells, which in turn release cytokines and other inflammatory molecules that attack invaders and protect the body’s tissues. When this response is temporary, it serves as an effective defense mechanism. But when inflammation doesn’t let up, it can contribute to the development of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Sleep deprivation is associated with markers of inflammation, such as increases in inflammatory molecules—including cytokines, interleukin-6, C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation that’s elevated in people at risk for heart disease and diabetes), and others— among people who weren’t sleeping well. While these signs of inflammation could be attributed to other factors—stress, smoking, or obesity, for example—they do suggest that sleep deprivation plays a role in the inflammatory process. And they could help explain why people who sleep poorly are at risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes, among other chronic conditions.

Read more...