New Discovery May Help Beat Jet Lag

by Sreeraman on  November 30, 2009 at 4:05 PM Research News
  •   Print
  •   Share
  •   Comments
  •  Text 
Scientists from University of Manchester have discovered special cells in the body that appear to regulate a person's body clock.

This finding, they hope, would provide vital clues to help combat jet lag.

It was believed that these cells remain inactive during the day, however, the new study has found the contrary.

According to Professor Hugh Piggins, lead researcher and an expert in neuroscience at the university, the research will allow a new approach to help tune our daily clock.

Researchers believe that the brain regulates body clock by firing more cells during daylight and very few during the night.

"The traditional model said the clock and the brain communicated to the rest of the brain via the number of electrical impulses that the brain cells were producing," The BBC News quoted Piggins saying.

"These impulses would travel around the brain, telling it what time of day it is.

"What we've found is in fact that there are at least two types of cells in this part of the brain," he added.

These brain cells contain a key gene called per1 that allows them to sustain unusually high levels of "excitability".

The cells becoming so "excited" that they seem quiet or even dead; but then later they calm down, recover and become normally active again.

It is this activity, which tells the human body when to be awake.

"There's a lot of interest in the pharmaceutical industry, obviously, to try to develop chemical treatments to reset your daily clock to help counteract things like jetlag," said Piggins.

"Or, perhaps more importantly, different kind of sleep disorders for which dysfunctions in this clock are often involved," he added.

Source-ANI
SRM

 Email Email   RSS Feeds RSS Feeds   Print this page Print   Save this page Save   Link Link   Syndicate Syndicate   Comments Comments   Bookmark and Share
 
Comment & Contribute
Comments should be on the topic and should not be abusive. Comments are normally moderated and are reviewed after they are posted.
* Your comment can be maximum of 2500 characters

Notify me when reply is posted
I agree to the terms and conditions
  
If you have a question about health related issues, you can now post it in our Ask An Expert section on our community website Medwonders.com and get answers from our panel of experts.
X

Medwonders Health Network

  • Health News Index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
News Archive
Date :
Category :
Keyword :
  • News Quick Links
News Central Health Watch
Latest Health News Health In Focus
News Category (500+) Breaking Health News
Popular News Celebrating Life
Health News and Press Release Medindia - Exclusive
News Photo Gallery India Special
News Video Gallery Lifestyle and Wellness
News From Other Resources
News Categories:  
Obesity Health Center

Research Related News

» Overgrowth of Bacteria in Gut Blamed For Irritable Bowel Syndrome » New Drug That Only Attacks Cancer Cells Developed
» Personality Traits Linked To Longevity in Centenarians » Lack of Vitamin D in Diet Raises Stroke Risk in Japanese-Americans
» Why Bovine TB Continues to Spread Demystified in New Research » Seaweed Pill May Help Treat Arthritis
» P. Aeruginosa Infection Leads to Worse Outcomes and Increased Hospitalizations in COPD Patients » Hormone Boosts Production of Molecules Which Fight Skin Infection
Read More >>