Does sleep deprivation and morphine influence wound healing?

The contrast between present-day sleep habits and those of the pre-industrial era are quite evident. One study recent has shown that the amount of sleep has decreased 2 h per night over the past 50 years. Such sleep curtailment, ubiquitous in the modern lifestyle, inflicts adverse repercussions upon health and well being. Investigations examining the relationship between stress and the skin have shown that different types of stress affect the healing process. Morphine is an immunosuppressive drug, and when it is used chronically, it can lead to an increased incidence of infections and a delay in the healing process. Therefore, our hypothesis is that the lack of sleep associated with chronic treatment with morphine is detrimental to the healing of the skin in the animal model we have adopted. Thus, it is important that future studies consider the paradigm of sleep curtailment when investigating the mechanisms involved in the process of skin healing in individuals who are dependent on morphine.