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The brain summons deep sleep for healing from life-threatening injury

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2024-11-10 04:00:04

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Immune cells rush to the brain and promote deep sleep after a heart attack, according to a new study1 involving both mice and humans. This heavy slumber helps recovery by easing inflammation in the heart, the study found.

The findings, published today in Nature, could help to guide care for people after a heart attack, says co-author Cameron McAlpine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, who studies immune function in the cardiovascular and nervous systems. “Getting sufficient sleep and rest after a heart attack is important for long-term healing of the heart,” he notes.

The implications of the study go beyond heart attack, says Rachel Rowe, a specialist in sleep and inflammation at the University of Colorado Boulder. “For any kind of injury, your body’s natural response would be to help you sleep so your body can heal,” she says.

Scientists have long known that sleep and cardiovascular health are linked. People who sleep poorly are at a higher risk of developing high blood pressure, for example, than are sound sleepers. But how cardiovascular disease affects sleep has been less explored.