Why It's Hard to Wake Up Early

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Netscape Communications

The research was presented to the American Physiological Society's annual scientific conference, Experimental Biology.

Netscape
Some of us thrive on getting out of bed at 4:30 a.m. to jumpstart the day. Others are just revving up for the evening when Jay Leno and David Letterman sign off. Most of us fall somewhere in between these two extremes. It could be that when we sleep isn't so much a function of personal choice as it is a genetic command.

Researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee speculate that differences in our sleep patterns are hardwired into our genes, reports Science Daily. The hours we prefer to go to bed and wake up are controlled by complex mechanisms with contributions from multiple genes that are also influenced by environmental factors. In other words, it's not your fault if you just can't wake up early--or stay up late!

Getting a good night's sleep, while effortless for some, is a real challenge for as many as 50 million to 70 million Americans of all ages. According to a National Sleep Foundation survey, almost 40 percent of adults ages 30 to 64 and 44 percent of those ages 18 to 29 say they are so sleepy during the day that it interferes with their work and social functioning at least a few days each month. Excessive daytime sleepiness has been blamed on interference in cognitive functioning, motor vehicle crashes (especially at night), poor job performance, and reduced productivity.

Could our genetic makeup be at the heart of a sleep disorder?

* The study

* The results

(More: Netscape Network)

2003 © Netscape Communications Corp.

Dan