Can’t sleep? Blame your genes

IT turns out some people are just born to be bad sleepers – as scientists have found that specific genes can give us insomnia.

Researchers measured the sleeping patterns of 85,670 people – using devices called accelerometers – as part of the UK Biobank study.

There were 47 genes that were found to be key to our quality of sleep because they determine how much of the hormone serotonin is produced.

Serotonin is associated with feelings of happiness and wellbeing, and people who produce more of it have been found to sleep better on the whole. One gene in particular, called PDE11A, was found to be important. Those born with a particular variant of PDE11A slept both for shorter periods and with worse quality, according to the study, published in Nature.

Dr Andrew Wood, of the University of Exeter Medical School, said: ‘We know that getting enough sleep improves our health and wellbeing, yet we still know relatively little about the mechanisms in our bodies that influence how we sleep.

‘Changes in sleep quality, quantity and timing are strongly associated with several diseases such as diabetes and obesity.’