It seems that you no longer need to try to figure out why you cannot wake up in the morning, because your genes can tell if you are a morning person or not. A new study on the matter has identified fifteen types of genes related to having the ability of waking up or staying up late.
The research study conducted by company 23andMe was published yesterday in the Nature Communications journal. The tests were made on almost 90,000 people in order to understand the functioning of the bodily clocks and even manage sleep disorders.
The team led by David Hinds performed a special type of study named genome-wide association. This helped them assess different versions of genes and thus determine whether they have anything to do with our sleep patterns. The people who participated to the test had to submit spit samples of their DNA to 23andMe, as well as fill in two online surveys regarding their lifestyles.
After the samples were analyzed, the study showed that 75% of the 135,000 people that completed at least one of the two surveys are surely night or morning persons. As for the fifteen types of genes, it seems seven of them play an important part in our sleep patterns. These genes are closely related to the ones that determine the sensitivity of our eyes to light.
Furthermore, the results of the study showed that women are more likely to be morning persons than men, and that older people prefer mornings more than people younger than thirty. Regarding sleep disorders, it seems that people who stated they are night owls were much likely to suffer either from insomnia or sleep apnea, which causes them to stop breathing during sleep. On the other hand, morning people tend to need less than eight hours of sleep, but also sweat or walk during it.
Other data from the study has demonstrated that most night owls live in New York, Nebraska, North Dakota and Kentucky, while the morning people are in New Hampshire and New Mexico.
It is worthy to mention that the data is not 100% accurate because the surveys included one single question that asked people whether they are an evening or a morning person. The results might point that your genes can tell if you are a morning person or not, but more studies have to be conducted in order to be sure of what influences our sleep patterns.
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