Wake-up call of sleep gene

INSOMNIA may have a genetic cause, a study says.

The misery of sleeplessness, which affects one in 10, is often blamed on stress, grief or shift work.

But research has identified seven genes that put people at higher risk.

Author of the BritishDutch study, Prof Eus Van Someren of Vrije University, Amsterdam, said: “Insomnia is all too often dismissed as ‘in your head’. It’s also in the genes.”

They found women are also more susceptible.