Lack Of Sleep Alters Hundreds Of Genes

A good night sleep is critical for rebuilding the body and maintaining good health, yet millions of people suffer from sleep deprivation.

Lack of sleep leads to significant health conditions, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, impaired cognition and depression. It can also lead to motor vehicle accidents and death.

A new study examined 26 participants who slept on average 5.7 hours a night for one week.

At the end of this time, they had to stay awake for about 40 hours.

The results were compared with the effect on the same volunteers of sleeping up to 10 hours a night for a week.

Researchers found that insufficient sleep had an impact on 711 genes, including genes associated with the circadian night and day body clock cycle, stress response, inflammation, immunity and metabolism.

The research showed that, for those who had gotten adequate sleep previously, the affects of the sleep deprivation were seven times less than for those already operating under a sleep deficit.

These findings may help to explain the serious health consequences that have been linked to short sleep.

By ensuring you have about eight hours sleep a night, you are protecting your future health, and reducing the risk of developing chronic illnesses.

Studies also show that people with a variety of medical disorders experienced improved overall health and quality of life when their sleep problems were resolved.

 

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References:

1.”Effects of insufficient sleep on circadian rhythmicity and expression amplitude of the human blood transcriptome”, Jan 2013, C. Moller-Levet, S Archer, G. Bucca, et al., Howard Hughes Medical Institute, http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/02/20/1217154110

2. The Journal of the American medical Association, http://jama.jamanetwork.com/journal.aspx