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The same researchers could also find a reduction in antibody levels in the blood
of short-
As a consequence, the animals became susceptible to inflammations and infections.
As another study demonstrated, most animals died after just over two weeks. This
suggests that the immune system in sleep-
Not even animal studies have, however, provided scientists with a clear picture of what exactly triggers the impairment of the immune system. So far, the few human studies produced conflicting results. While one study may determine a decrease in the level of natural killer cell activities, another study comes to the opposite conclusion.
No one likes to be kept awake for days or weeks at end. Human studies are, therefore, limited in their effectiveness. Be honest, do you care much whether a laboratory rat of mouse is being kept awake for scientific reasons? Perhaps you may care a little if you knew that those animals will become quite ill and eventually die when sleep deprived over lengthy periods.
For example, in one study, a group of mice were first immunized against influenza
and then exposed to the virus. Half of the group were kept awake for days while the
other half was allowed to sleep normally. After three days, the immune system of
the group with normal sleep patterns cleared all viruses from the respiratory system;
while the clearance process of the sleep-