Sound sleep cuts back on pain
Extra sleep can act as a painkiller and be as numbing as a dose of codeine according to research which has found that one to two hours more sleep can dull sensitivity to pain as much as 60 milligrams of analgesic drugs.
The studies have shown that chemicals produced by the body called proinflammatory cytokines are likely to be responsible for this sensitivity. The chemicals sensitise the body to painful stimuli so that people have a natural defensive response to potential harmful stress.
Sleep loss is seen as one of these stresses so the research found that cutting back on sleep hours lowered the pain threshold dramatically and opened people to an increased possibility of pain experience. By contrast longer sleep hours helped fight against pain.
Professor Timothy Roehrs, director of research at the Sleep Disorders and Research Centre at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, said “what we’re saying is that increased bedtime can act as a pain-alleviating drug”.
