Staying awake till late at night and rising late too the next morning could be in your genes, study reveals
-A study was conducted by Rockefeller University, in a group of 70 people to understand if sleep disorders such as Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (DSPD) was governed by an individual’s genetic makeup.
-Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (DSPD) is a sleep disorder where an individual’s sleep/ wake cycle (circadian rhythm) is altered or delayed compared to the expected one.
-The study suggested that the sleep disorder was directly linked with the genetic makeup of an individual. CRY1 proteins carry the instructions to produce one of the inhibitor proteins. This process governs the sleep cycle.
-As per the study, a single mutation in the protein (CRY1) extended the cycle of the protein by 30 minutes and therefore delayed sleep.
-As per the study, of the total participants, 39 carried the CRY1 variant and 31 did not. It was revealed that individuals with a mutated gene slept earlier compared to those who did not carry the mutation.
-It was also found that the DSPD could be managed well by practicing a routine that included healthy habits such as eating healthy, sleeping on time, reducing screen time before bedtime and not disturbing the circadian rhythm and sleep cycle.
-Findings were published in the journal Cell
-Source: The Cell