Sleeping day, night plow will destroy DNA

Scientists warn, night shifts will push the body into turmoil, potentially damaging human health.

The warning comes after researchers at the University of Surrey (UK) discovered that an overturned sleep cycle would seriously damage the inside of DNA. The team delayed the bedtime of 22 healthy men and women for four hours a day, within 3 days, until they went to bed at the time they often woke up and vice versa.

According to the researchers, more than 97% of the genes become out of sync with the wrong sleep in the case of night shifts.(Photo: Alamy)

The results of blood tests show that, when sleeping normally, 6% of the genes of the study subjects were set to increase or decrease activity at certain times of the day.

For example, some genes related to the body's protection against illness have been more active during the day than at night. However, when having to do night shift work, ie "sleeping day, plowing the night" , this rhythm has been seriously destroyed.

Dr. Simon Archer, a member of the research team, stated: "More than 97% of genes that follow the day-night rhythm become out of sync with the wrong sleep now. This really explains why we feel extremely uncomfortable during a long flight or if we have to work under unusual shifts ".

Professor Derk-Jan Dijk, associate of Dr. Archer, described the effect as "disturbances" . According to him, the study has helped us to understand the negative effects associated with shift work, long flights, aging and other conditions in which the rhythm of the genes has been broken.

Other experts were surprised at the large effect that occurred after only a few weeks of sleep disorders. They found that disorders in the long-term genes could lead to many health problems.