Sleep deprivation harms the gut via the vagus nerve, early study reveals

An illustration of a 3D transparent blue human body with red lines showing the nerves in the head and neck, with a blue human brain behind them.

A night or two of poor sleep can do more than cause tiredness — it may also mess with stem cells in the gut, making the organ susceptible to inflammatory disorders, a mouse study finds.

The new research revealed that sleep deprivation disrupts the function of gut stem cells in ways that could raise the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.