睡眠不足影响基因,你今天睡饱了吗?

　　连续几个晚上睡眠过少会扰乱数以百计对身体健康必不可少的基因，包括那些与压力有关以及对抗疾病的基因。

　　Tests on people who slept less than six hours a night for a week revealed substantial changes in the activity of genes that govern the immune system, metabolism², sleep and wake cycles, and the body's response to stress, suggesting that poor sleep could have a broad impact on long-term wellbeing.

　　对连续一周每晚睡不到六个小时的人的测试揭示了控制免疫系统、代谢、睡眠和清醒周期以及身体应激反应的那些基因活动的明显变化，这表明睡眠不好对长期健康有广泛影响。

　　The changes, which affected³ more than 700 genes, may shed light on the biological mechanisms⁴ that raise the risk of a host of ailments⁵, including heart disease, diabetes⁶, obesity⁷, stress and depression, in people who get too little sleep.

　　这些变化，影响超过700个基因，可能阐明了那些睡眠过少的人会增加一系列包括心脏病、糖尿病、肥胖、压力和抑郁等疾病风险的生物机制。

　　Previous studies have suggested that people who sleep less than five hours a night have a 15% greater risk of death from all causes than people of the same age who get a good night's sleep. In one survey of workers in Britain more than 5% claimed to sleep no more than five hours a night. Another survey published in the US in 2010 found that nearly 30% of people claimed to sleep no more than six hours a night.

　　先前的研究显示：那些夜里睡眠少于5个小时的人比能睡个好觉的同龄人多增了因各种原因而死亡的15%的风险。在对英国工人的一项调查中，超过5%的人声称每晚睡眠不超过5小时。另一个2010年在美国发表的调查发现，近30%的人声称每晚不超过6小时睡眠。

　　The time spent asleep had a huge effect on the activity of genes, picked up from blood tests on the volunteers, according to a report in the US journal Proceedings⁸ of the National Academy of Sciences. Among the sleep-deprived, the activity of 444 genes was suppressed, while 267 genes were more active than in those who slept for longer.

　　睡眠时间对基因活动有巨大影响，从血液测试志愿者那采集的，根据《美国国家科学院院刊》上的一份报告。在睡眠不足的人中， 444个基因活动被抑制，而267个基因比那些睡得更长的人的基因更活跃。

　　Changes to genes that control metabolism might trigger or exacerbate⁹ conditions such as diabetes or obesity, while disruption to other genes, such as those that govern the body's inflammatory response, might have an impact on heart disease. Further genes that were affected have been linked to stress and ageing.

　　控制代谢的基因变化可能会引发或加剧像糖尿病或肥胖那样的情况，而破坏其他基因，比如那些掌控身体应激反应的基因，可能会对心脏疾病有影响。被影响的其他基因与压力和老化有关。

　　Sleep loss also had a dramatic effect on genes that govern the body's biological clock, suggesting that poor sleep might trigger a vicious cycle of worsening sleep disruption.

　　睡眠不足对支配人体生物钟的基因也有巨大影响，这表明睡眠不足可能引发恶化的睡眠中断的恶性循环。

　　Jim Horne, professor of psychophysiology at Loughborough University's Sleep Research Centre, said: "The potential perils¹⁰ of 'sleep debt' in today's society and the need for 'eight hours of sleep a night' are often overplayed and can cause undue¹¹ worry. Although this important study seems to support this concern, the participants had their sleep suddenly restricted to an unusually low level, which must have been somewhat stressful.

　　吉姆?霍恩，拉夫堡大学睡眠研究中心的心理生理学教授，说：“ 在今天社会‘睡眠债’的潜在危险以及需要‘每晚八小时睡眠’往往被夸大，会导致过度忧虑。尽管这一重要研究似乎支持这一担忧，但参与者使其睡眠突然限于异常低的水平，这一定是有些紧张。”

　　"We must be careful not to generalise such findings to,then say, habitual¹² six-hour sleepers¹³ who are happy with their sleep. Besides, sleep can adapt to some change, and should also be judged on its quality, not simply on its total amount."

　　“我们必须小心地不去归纳这些发现，然后说习惯于六小时睡眠的人满意他们的睡眠。此外，睡眠可以适应于一些变化，也应根据其质量来判断，而不是简单地根据其总量。”

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