Can nap a genetic issue?

Can nap a genetic issue? Maria gets up at 06:30 during her work Jordana and when she gets home, after eating, she falls on the couch and sleeps half an hour of nap. Teresa does not get up early, usually gets up at 09:30 and her mornings are usually calm, but after eating she needs to sleep a nap. Without a doubt, nap is an issue that has aroused much interest in sleep research. Some people say they need to sleep it, while others see it as a waste of time. Can this difference in nap a genetic issue?

Now, in a joint investigation of the University of Massachusets and a research team by Marta Garaulet of the University of Murcia, they have opened a new line of research in which they point out The possibility that some people may be genetically predisposed to sleep nap. Let's start! 

Content

• Study: Is a nap a genetic issue?
• Predisposition to sleep
• Orexin
• Conclusions
• Future research
  • Bibliography

Study: Is a nap a genetic issue?

The study, by unites, carried out at the University of Masachustets and led by Dr. Hassan S. Dashti and another at the University of Murcia and led by Marta Garaulet, aimed to find out if a genetic issue could be a nap. The article was published in 2021 under the name of Genetic Determinants of Daytime Napping and Effects On Cardiometabolic Health of the scientific magazine Nature Communications.

For the study, they included genetic information of more than 400.000 people. All participants were made a previous issue: if they slept their nap during the day. And the response options were the following: "never/occasionally", "sometimes" or "usually". The full genomic study identified 123 regions in the human genome related to sleeping the nap.

In addition to this, A group of participants were provided accelerometers, that consist of activity monitors to provide data on the time that each person is at rest throughout the day. In this way, it was possible to verify what could be a nap. Thus, this fact helped confirm that the information offered by the participants was correct.

Predisposition to sleep

In the study, after analyzing thousands of genetic data, They obtained three profiles of people That because of their genetic predisposition, they tend to sleep nap:

• Sleep propensity. It is a profile of people who sleep the nap because, at a general level, you need to sleep a greater number of hours.
• Light sleep. They are those people who at night do not achieve a dream of quality and need to sleep their nap to complete their rest.
• Great early risers. It is the part of the population with a tendency to get up very early and need to recover sleep hours in the nap.

Orexin

Another finding of this research team was the observation of some genetic variations associated with a neuropeptide called Orexin. Orexin is a neuropeptide related to the tendency to reveal to us while we sleep. So, as Hassan Dashti points out: This transmitter is known for being involved in rare sleep diseases such as narcolepsia, but our research shows that Small disturbances in this transmitter can explain why there are people who sleep more nap than others.

Conclusions

These conclusions showed that There are people who are biologically determined to sleep nap And that it is not just a cultural behavior or an option of each person. However, some of the subjects presented by genetic predisposition to sleep nap. Apparently they also presented cardiomethabolic risk factors, for example, high blood pressure or abdominal obesity. Even so, researchers claim that broader studies are needed to enter this relationship.

Anyway, the data suggests that the fact that the nap can have different effects on each person. Therefore, they open the investigation to other ways and They are cautious when generalizing the benefits of this daytime dream, since, while some feel great, others could take its toll. The fact that there is a genetic predisposition, leads the study towards a more individual direction in terms of benefits or risks.

Future research

Marta Garaulet, from the University of Murcia and was the leader of her research team affirms that the study was done with English population, that is, with genetics and culture different from the Spanish, so It is important to conduct this same research in Spain Before reaching conclusions and recommendations on nap. In the same way, so that the findings and recommendations are more precise, this type of research should be carried out in each country, since each population has different genetic and cultural.

Bibliography

• Dashti, h., et al. (2021) Genetic Determinants of Daytime Napping and Effects on Cardiometabolic Health. Nature, 12,