why sleeping make us recover faster from illness? Does “force sleeping” (pills) have the same effect?
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We have no pills that force you to sleep — we’ve only diversified our portfolio of ways to give your brain increasingly impolite suggestions that it ought to go to sleep immediately. All of them are merely ways of encouraging that transition into the regular state of sleep (though many of them can decrease the quality of that sleep, for sure — both antihistamines and THC, the active component in cannabis, are good at persuading you to sleep, but not so good for favorable sleep brainwaves).
As for why sleeping is good for sickness — when you’re awake, your body is doing all sorts of stuff to keep you alive, conscious, and aware of your environment. It is also digesting your food, moving your muscles, etc. — all kinds of stuff, in addition to fighting an infection if you have one. When you’re asleep, the body has a lot less stuff to do at once, and energy is more efficiently directed towards fighting off infections. It’s also less likely that energy is diverted away from immune processes and toward digesting chicken noodle soup, for example.
We have no pills that force you to sleep — we’ve only diversified our portfolio of ways to give your brain increasingly impolite suggestions that it ought to go to sleep immediately. All of them are merely ways of encouraging that transition into the regular state of sleep (though many of them can decrease the quality of that sleep, for sure — both antihistamines and THC, the active component in cannabis, are good at persuading you to sleep, but not so good for favorable sleep brainwaves).
As for why sleeping is good for sickness — when you’re awake, your body is doing all sorts of stuff to keep you alive, conscious, and aware of your environment. It is also digesting your food, moving your muscles, etc. — all kinds of stuff, in addition to fighting an infection if you have one. When you’re asleep, the body has a lot less stuff to do at once, and energy is more efficiently directed towards fighting off infections. It’s also less likely that energy is diverted away from immune processes and toward digesting chicken noodle soup, for example.
We have no pills that force you to sleep — we’ve only diversified our portfolio of ways to give your brain increasingly impolite suggestions that it ought to go to sleep immediately. All of them are merely ways of encouraging that transition into the regular state of sleep (though many of them can decrease the quality of that sleep, for sure — both antihistamines and THC, the active component in cannabis, are good at persuading you to sleep, but not so good for favorable sleep brainwaves).
As for why sleeping is good for sickness — when you’re awake, your body is doing all sorts of stuff to keep you alive, conscious, and aware of your environment. It is also digesting your food, moving your muscles, etc. — all kinds of stuff, in addition to fighting an infection if you have one. When you’re asleep, the body has a lot less stuff to do at once, and energy is more efficiently directed towards fighting off infections. It’s also less likely that energy is diverted away from immune processes and toward digesting chicken noodle soup, for example.
This guy does a really good job explaining sleep, the why and the how ect
https://themattwalkerpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
This guy does a really good job explaining sleep, the why and the how ect
https://themattwalkerpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
This guy does a really good job explaining sleep, the why and the how ect
https://themattwalkerpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
Sleep has many profound effects on our health. It affects our hormones, our fighter T cells, our memory… The list goes on. It is honestly hard to encapsulate in an ELI5. Watch some talks or interviews with Dr. Mathew Walker.
Sleep has many profound effects on our health. It affects our hormones, our fighter T cells, our memory… The list goes on. It is honestly hard to encapsulate in an ELI5. Watch some talks or interviews with Dr. Mathew Walker.
Sleep has many profound effects on our health. It affects our hormones, our fighter T cells, our memory… The list goes on. It is honestly hard to encapsulate in an ELI5. Watch some talks or interviews with Dr. Mathew Walker.
Amongst other things, sleep is the time when our body goes into maintenance mode.
Our immune system ~~slightly lowers~~ [boosts the defences](https://www.sleepstation.org.uk/articles/health/sleep-and-immunity/#:~:text=Healthy%20sleep%20can%20help%20boost,improving%20antibody%20responses%20to%20vaccinations) to allow the body to repair itself. This is why your cold [feels worst at a night](https://www.intercoastalmedical.com/2016/05/27/why-do-you-feel-sicker-at-night/#:~:text=At%20night%2C%20there%20is%20less,feel%20sicker%20during%20the%20night.) [white cells are more busy fighting it], but this is also why your body heals faster.
I haven’t had the luxury of trying it, but I heard that if you feel a cold brewing, you should just get some sleep and nip it in the bud.
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