The importance of sleep

Sleep is an important aspect in all points regarding health, so it is to no surprise that it also plays a major role in inflammation. 

Here is why:

During deep sleep cytokines are released to help regulate immune responses, some of those cytokines are anti-inflammatory and some pro-inflammatory. Good quality sleep promotes balance, while disrupted, poor quality sleep leads to an overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which then worsen inflammation.

Sleep is knows to be about rest and repair, the repair mode of sleep includes fixing damaged tissues, clearing out waste and regenerating cells, all important processes in RA. Short, disrupted sleep, leads to unfinished tasks. Especially the glymphatic system (brain detox system), which clears out inflammatory substances, cannot get everything cleaned up, leading to more neuroinflammation, mood swings, cognitive malfunction and a lower pain tolerance.

Poor sleep also increases the number of inflammatory markers in your body, which then worsens joint pain and swelling, increases systemic inflammation, fatigue and brain fog.

What does that mean:

Take getting a good night sleep serious, very day, because the above stated occur after one bad night, imagine what they do to you over time.