Insomnia might be in your genes

|
Saturday, March 10, 2018
insomnia might be in your genes

New York: Finding it difficult to sleep? Blame your genes, say researchers, who identified specific genetic factors that may trigger the development of sleep problems.

The findings established that insomnia was linked to the occurrence of specific variants on chromosome 7. 
 
It also demonstrated a genetic link between insomnia and psychiatric disorders and physical conditions.
 
"The genetic correlation between insomnia disorder and other psychiatric disorders, such as major depression, and physical disorders such as type 2 diabetes suggests a shared genetic diathesis for these commonly co-occurring phenotypes," Murray Stein from the University of California San Diego.
 
 "A better understanding of the molecular bases for insomnia will be critical for the development of new treatments," Stein added.
 
 The variant on chromosome 7 is close to AUTS2 -- a gene that has been linked to alcohol consumption, as well as others that relate to brain development and sleep-related electric signalling, the researchers said.
 
 "Several of these variants rest comfortably among locations and pathways already known to be related to sleep and circadian rhythms," Stein said. 
 
 "Such insomnia associated loci may contribute to the genetic risk underlying a range of health conditions including psychiatric disorders and metabolic disease," he said.
 
 Twin studies in the past showed that various sleep-related traits, including insomnia, are heritable. 
 
 Based on the findings, researchers started to look into the specific gene variants involved.
 
 In the new study, appearing in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, the team analysed DNA samples from more than 33,000 soldiers, who were of European, African and Latino descent.
 
 Stein also compared their results with those of two recent studies that used data from the UK Biobank.
 
 Overall, the study confirms that insomnia has a partially heritable basis.
 

0 Comment

Performing a liver transplant on this three-month-old baby was a deeply gratifying moment in my career 

Surgery has, and continues to fascinate me. I chose a surgical residency due to its immediacy- one can exercise a certain set of skills and be privy to seeing instant resu....

Mindbowser is empowering next-gen health startups to build scalable solutions and earn trust

Gunjan Sharma talks to Ayush Jain, CEO of Mindbowser, on how he is empowering health startups by driving innovation, building scalable tech solutions, and enabling digital....

This handy, wireless pocket-sized ECG machine can revolutionise cardiac care 

This engineer couple, Neha and Rahul, took up the challenge to make a leadless, portable ECG device themselves....

University of Dundee Research aims to solve Neuropathic Pain mysteries

Researchers at the University of Dundee seek to understand the mechanisms driving neuropathic pain and its intensity in patients, which affects appr....

The two-day SPCTT event will bring together leading experts, researchers, and clinicians in pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and cellular th...