In the last decade, science has made enormous strides in decoding the human genome and finding associations between genetic variants and certain conditions, or diseases and disorders. We owe a lot of our individual characteristics, after all, to minor variations in our DNA. So it seems reasonable that small discrepancies in our genomes can mean the difference between being a routinely sound sleeper and a chronic insomniac.
And now we have proof: new research just published in the journal Neurology concludes that people who have a gene variant called DQB1*0602 have a higher chance of developing narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that causes excessive daytime sleepiness. It's not that having this variant dooms a person to narcolepsy. The association is probabilistic, not deterministic, meaning that you might develop narcolepsy if you have the gene, or you might not. Depending on the population, 12 to 38 percent of those with the variant do not have the sleep disorder and are considered healthy sleepers. Also, people without the gene variant can develop narcolepsy, though this is less common.
More...
0 comments
Post a Comment