Not having proper amount of sleep can take a toll on your health. A new study has found that people who sleep six hours or less in night are four times more likely to catch cold than the ones who enjoy night’s sleep of more than 7 hours.

Study’s lead researcher Aric Prather from the University of California-San Francisco said that in their research they have recruited 164 volunteers. The researchers measured their normal sleep habits with a watch-like sensor for seven nights.

They then took them to a hotel and sprayed a cold virus in nose drops of volunteers to know that who has fallen sick and who has not. The researchers collected mucus samples to know the same. They came to know that those who have slept less than six hours a night were 4.2 times more likely to catch cold than the ones who have slept seven or more hours.

The research findings suggest that insufficient amount of sleep affects the immune system, making it less able to fight off a virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shared that insufficient sleep has become a public health epidemic.

One in five Americans get less than six hours of sleep on an average work night. One in three Australians has reported that they struggle with sleep.