People who love a lie-in are more likely to develop mental health problems

If you find yourself repeatedly snoozing your alarm, you may be at a higher risk of developing a mental health problem, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Exeter and Massachusetts General Hospital have found that being genetically programmed to get up early in the morning may lead to greater well-being and a lower risk of schizophrenia and depression.

The study sheds light on the body clock, and its link to mental health.

The study involved 700,000 participants – 250,000 from 23andMe and 450,000 from the UK Biobank study.

Participants were asked if they were a ‘morning person’ or an ‘evening person’, and their genomes were analysed to look at which genes they had in common which may influence their sleep patterns.

The researchers confirmed their results using information from wrist-worn activity trackers used by more than 85,000 individuals in the UK Biobank.

This information showed that the genetic variants the researchers identified could shift a person’s natural waking time by up to 25 minutes – changing some people’s waking time from 8am to 8.25am, for example.

The researchers found that the genetic areas influence sleep timing but not the quality or duration of sleep.

The genomic regions identified include those central to our body clocks, also referred to as circadian rhythms, as well as genes expressed in the brain and in retinal tissue in the eye.

The body clock cycle is slightly longer than the 24-hour daily cycle and the eye tissue connection may help explain how the brain detects light to "reset" the body clock each day and to align with the 24-hour cycle.

Professor Mike Weedon, who led the research in Exeter, said: "This study highlights a large number of genes which can be studied in more detail to work out how different people can have different body clocks.

"The large number of people in our study means we have provided the strongest evidence to date that ‘night owls’ are at higher risk of mental health problems, such as schizophrenia and lower mental well-being, although further studies are needed to fully understand this link."

The body clock is influenced by genes and lifestyle factors including diet, exposure to artificial light and jobs and activities. It affects a wide range of molecular processes, including hormone levels and core body temperature, as well as waking and sleeping patterns.

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Lead author Dr Samuel E Jones added: "We still know very little about whether or not your body clock influences your risk of disease.

"Our work indicates that part of the reason why some people are up with the lark while others are night owls is because of differences in both the way our brains react to external light signals and the normal functioning of our internal clocks.

"These small differences may have potentially significant effects on the ability of our body clocks to keep time effectively, potentially altering risk of both disease and mental health disorders."

The study, Genome-wide association analyses of chronotype in 697,828 individuals provides insights into circadian rhythms, is published in the journal Nature Communications.

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