#UNDISTURBED SLEEP SERIES#

#UNDISTURBED SLEEP SERIES#

So he and colleagues from the University of Chicago and the University of Louisville devised a series of experiments to measure the effects of disrupted sleep on cancer. Gozal, an authority on the consequences of sleep apnea, was struck by two recent studies linking apnea to increased cancer mortality.

The effects of fragmented sleep that we focused on were not seen in mice that lacked this protein.” It appears to be a lynchpin for the cancer-promoting effects of sleep loss. “Toll-like receptor 4, a biological messenger, helps control activation of the innate immune system. “Fortunately, our study also points to a potential drug target,” he said. “Fragmented sleep changes how the immune system deals with cancer in ways that make the disease more aggressive.” “It’s not the tumor, it’s the immune system,” said study director David Gozal, chairman of pediatrics at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. The study is the first to demonstrate, in an animal model, the direct effects of fragmented sleep on tumor growth and invasiveness, and it points to a biological mechanism that could serve as a potential target for therapy.

Poor-quality sleep marked by frequent awakenings can speed cancer growth, increase tumor aggressiveness and dampen the immune system’s ability to control or eradicate early cancers, according to a new study published online Jan.

Undisturbed sleep