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from the I'll-stay-in-bed-just-in-case dept.
To get over the flu, all it might take is a little extra brain protein and a lot more sleep. Researchers at Washington State University at Spokane have been trying to come up with another way to treat influenza beyond yearly vaccinations. James Krueger, a professor of physiology at WSU, says they were interested in seeing if sleep could improve recovery from illness.
“Grandmothers, and most people, give the advice, ‘Sleep will do you good, you’ll recover,’ but there’s not much scientific research,” Krueger tells Popular Science. In a new study, Krueger was able to back up his grandmother's advice. The team looked to a protein found only in the brain and in neurons called AcPb and an accessory protein called interleukin 1 — proteins that Krueger has been studying for a number of years. Interleukin 1 regulates sleep in healthy mammals, and Krueger found that when the AcPb protein in a sick animal interacts with the interleukin 1, it sends a signal to the immune system. This signal tells the body to sleep longer, so it can better recover from the virus.
http://www.popsci.com/proteins-found-brain-might-help-speed-flu-recovery-while-you-sleep
[Abstract]: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159114005108
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 15 2015, @09:17PM
As an asthmatic, the one thing the flu or a cold does is make me not sleep.
Colds keep me choking up all night, and I'm in so much pain and respiratory distress (shallow breathing) that I can barely do anything.
(Score: 2) by morgauxo on Tuesday January 20 2015, @02:24PM
Exactly! My point was why is this specifically helpful to people with the flu as opposed to other issues. You mentioned a cold yourself. If they can figure out how to duplicate this mechanism with a pill or something then why only use it on people with the flu? I would think that fighting just about any infectious sickness, healing from injuries or just treating insomnia could benefit. If we can learn to stimulate this artificially does the fact that the natural mechanism was specifically a response to the flu mean that is the only way we can use it?