How much do you need to sleep?
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
We are tired of hearing that getting enough sleep is very important to have a good performance and maintain health. The number of hours touted by most experts is 8 hours. However, some people say they feel rested with less than 9 or 10 hours of sleep, while others feel very well prepared sleeping less than 6 hours per night. The need for sleep depends on individual habits or our genes?
If you feel guilty for liking to sleep but I know there is a genetic influence on the number of hours that each person needs to feel rested. This is shown by a study published in Science, August 14.
Genes sleep
The genes that influence sleep are still largely unknown, but we know that the variability between people in a population follows a so-called multifactorial inheritance, such as height or weight. Environmental factors (sports, stress, proper nutrition, etc. ..) are responsible for 50% and the genetic contribution (heritability call) answered by the other 50%. It depends on several genes each with a small effect. At one end of the curve are those who need little sleep and the other well-known "sleepers". However, mutations in some genes may have a significant effect on our sleep. That's what the article published by Dr. Ying He and his collaborators.
Mutation in individuals with little sleep
These researchers found that a mutation (P385R) in a gene called DEC2 - among other things involved in the circadian rhythm - is apparently associated with little need for sleep. This mutation was found in one family - a family named little sleep - (short sleep family). The mutation carriers (mother and son) slept about 6 hours, while other family members, who had the mutation, they slept an average of 8 hours (range 7.4 to 9.4).
This is a rare mutation. How to know if she has that same effect?
This mutation identified in one family was not found in 250 individuals of the population. How then to make sure that it influences the sleep? To get this response they generated a transgenic mouse with the same mutation. They observed that animals carrying the mutation remained active between 1.2 to 2.5 hours more than the controls without the mutation. This confirmed their findings in humans.
After all, how much sleep do we need?
It is not only a question of social concern, but science, which has been the subject of much research: what is the role or importance of sleep in our performance and well-being? Genetic studies will be very important to unravel this mystery. On the other hand, I confess I was relieved to know that this is a rare mutation. Imagine if we had to submit to a DNA test to know if we have a genetic propensity to sleep too much or too little before we accepted a new job?
Source: Veja.com
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
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