Our Sleep Habits Might Help To Detect Cold And Flu Crises Early

The UK Health Security Agency has paired with sleep tracking app Sleep Cycle to see whether sleep changes can help to spot broader trends in respiratory diseases, like colds, flu, and Covid, early on. 

They are set to run a 12-week research program that will include analysis of anonymised and privacy-preserved data collected by Sleep Cycle between January 2023 and January 2024.

They’ll also look at Sleep Cycle’s Cough Radar, a tool which helps to visualise nighttime coughing trends across the UK.

“By analysing sleep-based signals such as nighttime cough patterns, the study will investigate how this data corresponds to the UK’s existing hospital admission data and surveillance indicators, and whether it provides an earlier signal of rising infection rates,” UKHSA said. 

Sleep could be an underrated public health marker 

“Sleep is one of the most consistent, passive windows into human health, yet it remains largely unexplored in population-level health surveillance,” Mikael Kågebäck, Chief Technology Officer at Sleep Cycle, told HuffPost UK.

“Through our collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency, we are investigating how signals from our sleep app, particularly nighttime cough patterns, can provide earlier insights into respiratory disease trends like flu, RSV, and COVID-19.” 

This may, he said, mean sleep data can “complement traditional disease surveillance systems with real-time data gathered from millions of individuals.

“By examining these sleep-based signals, we aim to not only support existing public health systems but also contribute to proactive, data-driven healthcare practices that could potentially save lives, at scale.” 

This will be the first time UKHSA has systemically used sleep app data to see whether it might be useful for national epidemiological monitoring.

This could strengthen warning systems in the UK

Professor Steven Riley, Chief Data Officer at UKHSA, said: “This innovative partnership represents a potentially important step toward integrating novel data streams into our national health intelligence.

“If successful, these insights could help us strengthen early warning systems for respiratory infections in the UK.” 

As Kågebäck told us, “We’re transforming the bedroom into a powerful diagnostic hub, where every night’s rest contributes to the health intelligence of entire populations”.