AsianScientist (Feb. 6, 2019) – Sleep deprivation may have a negative effect on DNA integrity, according to researchers at the University of Hong Kong. They published their results in the journal Anaesthesia.
Most people would be familiar with the consequences of sleep deprivation, which include an inability to concentrate, slower reaction times and increased susceptibility to disease. However, the damage caused by lack of sleep may be more severe than previously thought.
In this study, scientists led by Dr. Choi Siu-Wai of the University of Hong Kong found that sleep deprivation affects genomic integrity. The researchers carried out an observational study on 49 healthy full-time doctors who had their blood analyzed at different time points. On-call doctors who were required to work overnight exhibited lower expression of genes associated with DNA repair and more DNA breaks than participants who did not work overnight. Crucially, DNA damage was increased after only one night of sleep deprivation.
Although additional research is needed, this DNA damage may help explain the increased risk for cancer and cardiovascular, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases associated with not getting enough hours of rest.
“Although this work is very preliminary, it is clear from the results that even a single night of sleep deprivation can trigger events that may contribute to the development of chronic disease,” said Choi.
“Anesthetists and other health professionals frequently work night shifts and on-call duties, and their work patterns change frequently between night and day work. This study is important in that it will allow future researchers to study the impact of changing the way we work by evaluating DNA breaks in the same way as the authors of this study,” said Professor Andy Klein, editor-in-chief of Anaesthesia.
The article can be found at: Cheung et al. (2019) The Effect of Sleep Deprivation and Disruption on DNA Damage and Health of Doctors.
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Source: Wiley; Photo: Pixabay.
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