Feeling Under The Weather? Here's Why You Feel Sleepy When You're Sick

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A "sick" feeling is always associated with being sleepy. Most of the times, even the most energetic person tends to be lazy that even eating and a simple movement is a hard task to do. Sleeping is the best and the only option possible when someone is under the weather.

Most people think that the reason why an ill person dozes most of the time is because the body is using all of its energy to fight off the infection. However, a new study shows that it is caused by a chemical which affects the activity of the cell in the nervous system. Apparently, experts from the University of Pennsylvania used a roundworm for its study. They have experimented the simple nervous system of the parasite to reveal how a single cell can alter the entire body's response to illness.

When someone is sick, the cells inside the body are under stress which causes the organisms to become sleepy as the body's response to recover stress. What the experts found in the worm is a single nerve cell named Alpha-Lipoic Acid (ALA) and this cell is responsible for releasing a group of chemicals that transmits signals between brain neurons.

ALA is also known for assisting with the energy production happening in the body. It also acts as powerful antioxidants -- a substance known inhibiting the production of free radicals that causes damaged cells. It also aids in treating nerve damage, liver protection, and in slowing down the development of Alzheimer's disease. (via DailyMail)

Meanwhile, the main chemical that is being released during sickness is called FLP-13 -- the chemical responsible for slowing down any activity in the nervous system cells that promote wakefulness. However, the release of the chemical induces a different kind of sleep compared to regular sleeping. According to Medical Daily, studies conducted show that sick animals halt normal behaviors such as eating or responding to the environment.