Sleeping less than six hours a night skews activity of hundreds of genes | Science | gu... - 0 views
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Getting too little sleep for several nights in a row disrupts hundreds of genes that are essential for good health, including those linked to stress and fighting disease.
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Tests on people who slept less than six hours a night for a week revealed substantial changes in the activity of genes that govern the immune system, metabolism, sleep and wake cycles, and the body's response to stress, suggesting that poor sleep could have a broad impact on long-term wellbeing.
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Among the sleep-deprived, the activity of 444 genes was suppressed, while 267 genes were more active than in those who slept for longer.
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Sample, Ian. "Sleeping Less than Six Hours a Night Skews Activity of Hundreds of Genes." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 25 Feb. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. . This article, from The Guardian, talks about an English study on sleep patterns and genes. The study found that the genes of people who sleep less than six hours per night become suppressed and much less functional than those of people who sleep for healthier periods of time (i.e. 8 hours or more, typically). These changes can affect more than 700 genes that govern the human body's immune system, metabolism, sleep and wake cycles, and responses to stress. -
This is very relevant to not just the Health course, but to people's everyday lives as well. As high school students, many of us are too preoccupied with doing schoolwork or procrastinating to go to sleep on time, which leads to sleep deprivation. We all know that sleep deprivation will also deprive one of his or her ability to focus properly, but this article provides a very solid scientific explanation as to why we should be sleeping right. I think that this kind of stuff is fascinating -- the whole idea of digging deep into how the human body works is just amazing, especially since we're always learning new things.