Being a ‘morning person’ can lower your risk of schizophrenia

Sydney: Being a “morning person” can lead to greater well-being as well as lower the risk of developing schizophrenia and depression, finds a research. However, for some it is hard to be a morning lark, and they would rather be a night owl. Various research have explained an individual's genetics as the reason behind this. Now, a large-scale genomic analysis has identified 327 new genes, from earlier known 24, associated with a person’s sleep time, or chronotype.

The study revealed some of the inner workings of the body clock, shedding new light on how it links to mental health and disease. It suggests that being genetically programmed to rise early is associated with better mental health, but does not affect Body Mass Index (BMI) or risk of Type-2 diabetes. Importantly, the study also showed that the genetic variants the researchers identified could shift a person’s natural waking time by up to 25 mins - 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. (IANS)

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