This means that your white blood cells, which are responsible for fighting infections, are less active during the day. At night, there is less cortisol in your blood. As a result, your white blood cells readily detect and fight infections in your body at this time, provoking the symptoms of the infection to surface, such as fever, congestion, chills, or sweating.
Therefore, you feel sicker during the night. A couple of other things to consider are the natural differences we experience during the day and at night:. Keeping your body upright can make a world of difference for your congestion and breathing, by helping to drain mucous from your airway.
During the day you are naturally more upright, as you go about your routine, while at night you eventually lay down to sleep.
February 06, This is why you always seem to feel more sick at night No, you weren't imagining it. Illness Flu Season. Our immunity systems work fulltime, Huffington Post reports: During the day, one branch of the immune system called cellular immunity is at the forefront of the defenses. As we get ready to rest at night, another arm known as inflammation takes over. Usually, we don't feel the effects of cellular immunity. But we almost always know when we are inflamed as it promotes fever, mucus production, reduced breathing capability, and physical fatigue.
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Opinion Honor those who served, and remember why. But we almost always know when we are inflamed as it promotes fever, mucus production, reduced breathing capability, and physical fatigue. A few years ago, researchers uncovered a trigger of this shift in immune function.
One of the major players in cellular immunity, T-cells, underwent a change such that the cells became less active against infective agents during our times of rest.
It was as if the soldiers had recognized some kind of work whistle and decided it was time to rest. This discovery reveals a rather strange trait of the immune system. When it comes to battling an infection, T-cells are incredibly important. They are the generals and the commanders of the operation. They simply should not be allowed to take a break. Yet no one has successfully explained why these cells tend to slow down when we need them the most. Now it seems, we may know the reason.
A team of German researchers have shown why these cells - and others - take that nighttime downturn in activity.
The results show the answer isn't about rest, but ensuring the entire immune defense force is primed to fight in the morning. The group used mice for their studies so they could better understand the link between the body's circadian rhythm and immune function. The mice were allowed to live as normal for weeks in a normal light-dark cycle. The absence of distractions may heighten your perception of some symptoms, says Dr. Also, lying down could stoke some congestion-related symptoms.
If congestion is your biggest issue, it may be helpful to elevate your head with a few pillows, he says. This can help your mucus drain, preventing a big build-up in the back of your throat or in your sinuses.
And because you drink less at night than you do during the day, nighttime snot can become viscous and clog your nose and airways. Drink plenty of fluids during the day to keep your mucus thin and watery, not thick and gunky, Smolensky says. Another remedy: take something to treat your most bothersome symptoms. Whether you rely on over-the-counter decongestants or natural curatives like chicken soup which research has linked to a drop in inflammation among people with respiratory tract infections , these common therapies can provide short-term relief, says Dr.
Jeffrey Steinbauer, a professor of family and community medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
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