Blame your Genes for your sleep cycle: Study

Wondered how some stay perky all day with just a few hours of sleep, while others remain cranky all day? The reason, scientists have found, could be due to a ‘sleepiness' gene.

Some of us wake up refreshed and ready to bounce out of bed — no matter how little sleep we've had. Others, on the other hand, just want to turn over to go back to sleep, even after getting ten hours of shut-eye. Scientists believe it's all in the genes. Scientists claim to have found a “sleepiness” gene that affects whether people rise refreshed and ready to attack the day — or would rather turn over and go back to sleep, reported a leading News Daily. 

According to them, people with the “sleepiness” gene feel more tired than others, even after getting a good 10 hours of shut-eye two nights in a row; they also take lack of sleep harder than others. The scientists focused on 37 volunteers who had a genetic flaw linked to narcolepsy, a sleep disorder in which sufferers fall asleep without warning. Despite having the gene, the men and women did not suffer from narcolepsy and were classed as healthy sleepers.

For the first two nights of the study, they were allowed to sleep for up to 10 hours. For the next five, they were only allowed four hours in bed. Another 92 adults without the genetic flaw followed the same routine. Those with the flawed gene were sleepier and more fatigued no matter how much or how little sleep they had. They also woke up more during the night and spent less time in restorative deep sleep.

“This gene may be a biological signal for predicting how people will respond to sleep deprivation, which has significant health consequences and affects millions of people around the world. It may be particularly important to those who work on the night shift, travel frequently through multiple time zones or just lose sleep due to their work and family obligations. More research and replication of our findings are needed, the researchers said.