Lack of Sleep and Exercise Could Be Bad News for Allergy Sufferers

On why exercise and sleep deprivation were chosen for this study, first author Shelley Dua, PhD, explained, “In a previous immunotherapy study led by Andrew Clark, PhD, it was observed that there was a loss of tolerance during the maintenance phase if the patients consumed their peanut doses in combination with undertaking a cofactor such as exercise, or if they were sleep deprived. These conditions are easy to recreate, and sleep deprivation can be used as a proxy for stress, which we regard as a common everyday factor in the population.” Participants in the study underwent three open peanut challenges in random order. In one challenge, exercise followed each dose of peanut while another challenge required sleep deprivation prior to the dose. One challenge included no intervention. These baseline challenges were performed on 126 peanut-allergic participants. The mean doses triggering symptoms were reduced by 45% for both sleep deprivation and exercise challenges, compared to the challenge with no intervention. This suggests that lack of sleep and exercise significantly increases the risk of an individual allergic to peanuts having an allergic reaction if exposed to the allergen. This research is in its final stages, with a full manuscript expected to be published this year. Understanding why reactivity thresholds are lowered by these everyday factors is critical so physicians can help patients better manage their food allergies. https://www.technologynetworks.com/tn/news/lack-of-sleep-and-exercise-could-be-bad-news-for-allergy-sufferers-316001?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=70295547&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--1SO06SmFasRsbN4B9Zals9c7bSuZWBJoq1XQL5B_vEMMQPQx0g0Hs1DDA8yx9z2awXo_0Z0PUvNkYn6VOfQHD_jhKMw&_hsmi=70295547