Genes Affected by Sleep Loss

 We all know that sleep-loss causes a plethora of different problems, from mere tiredness to driving accidents. But, could a sleepless night also affect our genes? Scientists are now saying yes, it can.
In a study of 26 people that suffer from insomnia, Derk-Jan Dijk and colleagues at the University of Surrey in England set out to understand the affects of sleep-loss on a molecular level.
For one week, the 26 volunteers were allowed 8 hours of sleep each night. They noted that they felt good and rested. The next week, the volunteers were given just 6 hours of sleep a night, noting that they felt "sleepy and sluggish", as to be expected. However, here's the kicker: as the volunteers got less sleep, their genes actually changed. Each volunteer was given a blood test, and, according to reasearchers, the activity in 711 of their genes had changed. Among these affected genes were those that control the immune system, which helps to prevent sickness and colds. As always, scientists have concluded that sleep-loss can lead to health problems and are recommending at least 8 hours of sleep per night.
This study, though, had one big fault. There are 7 billion human beings on Earth, and only 26 of them were monitored. For a more definitive conclusion, researchers would have done better in using a larger test pool.

However, I guess for this particular experiment the small group was not too damaging on the results because the conclusion that sleep-loss leads to health problems is one that everybody already knows.
Well, what about people that cannot get 8 solid hours of sleep each night? Life can get pretty hectic, and it gets even more so as we get older (to a certain point, eventually we just retire and can sleep as much as we want to). As a high school student in my senior year, I know firsthand how it is sometimes literally impossible to get 8 hours of sleep, and most of the time even 5 hours! Between school, homework, sports, clubs, jobs, and other engagements, hitting the sack at a decent hour is next to impossible. It is almost hypocritical, how everybody says to get 8 hours of sleep, yet we have to wake up at 6 for school and have loads of homework each night, and are expected to have jobs to start contributing to society. Where will it end? Are we all in for major health problems by the time we can retire? It is all just something to think about. I sure as heck know that I want my genes to be in tip-top shape, but apparently that wont happen for a long, long time.