People who don't get enough sleep are more likely to get sick

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AP

When you cut back on sleep, you're risking more than feeling bad the next day. Research suggests that you could be depriving your immune system of a much needed boost.

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According to a new study in the journal Sleep, people who get less than six hours of sleep could be more susceptible to the common cold.

The scientists assessed the sleep patterns of 164 healthy men and women for a week using sleep diaries and a wrist device that sensed their movements.

The participants were then exposed to a cold virus via nasal drops, quarantined, and monitored for cold symptoms. Though they were all exposed to the virus, not all of them became infected or sick.

The scientists found that those who slept an average of less than five or even between five and six hours a night were "at greater risk of developing the cold compared to those sleeping" more than seven hours a night. In fact, they were approximately four times more likely to catch a cold.

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While the Sleep study was relatively small, a 2009 study reported similar findings. Researchers then found that people getting less than seven hours of sleep were almost three times more likely to pick up a cold they'd been exposed to than those who'd had eight or more hours of sleep.

"There's evidence that people who don't get enough sleep show higher levels of inflammation," Sheldon Cohen, a co-author of the new study, told NPR. That could be a sign that the immune system is in overdrive, struggling to fend off pathogens and infections. Previous research has even found that people who are sleep deprived have an impaired ability to fight off infections.

If you put off sleep for longer than a week, you could be at risk for more than just the common cold. Over time, sleep deprivation has been linked to chronic heart disease, diabetes, and cognitive decline.

Experts say adults should get seven to nine hours of sleep every night, especially if you have the sniffles. If you're not sure you're getting enough sleep, here's one way to find out.

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