Sunday, March 17, 2019

The Genetics Behind Insomnia

An article at the Scientific American discusses the the findings of studies done on the genetic basis of Insomnia, and its possible link to things like depression and heart disease. There were two genome-wide association studies or GWAs done on insomnia, and it was found that when looking that when looking at a wide variety of individuals there were several area of the genome that were linked to insomnia, and even more genes that were involved with it. In the studies it was also found that several of the genes involved with insomnia are also linked to things like depression, anxiety, and type 2 diabetes. It was also found that insomnia is more closely related to psychiatric diseases than it is to other sleep related disorders, and that it may cause depression and coronary artery disease.

I found this article to be fascinating because many people wouldn't think that a disorder like insomnia could genetically linked when it in fact is. I also think it is rather interesting that many of these diseases and disorders that were previously believed to have no link to genetics actually do now that they are being looked into. These studies are now helping to open the door for further research and discovery in the biology of these disorders.

1 comment:

  1. I agree it is really important the research is being done i order to understand disorders such as insomnia. We need to be able to understand why certain people are more prone to these disorders and how to properly treat and hopefully cure in the future.