A NEW PILL may be able to cure jet lag and ease the strain of working nights.
Scientists at Manchester University found that an enzyme can keep the body operating on a 24-hour rhythm.
It also found that when it’s suppressed it can make it easier for the body to be up at night or asleep in the day.
Studies have shown that disrupting the body clock has a serious impact on health, raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Night shifts are thought to be responsible for 500 women dying from breast cancer each year.
Dr David Bechtold led the study which was published in the Current Biology journal, he said,
We already know that modern society poses many challenges to our health and well-being. Things that are viewed as commonplace – shift work, sleep deprivation and jet lag – disrupt our bodies’ clocks.
“We are not genetically predisposed to quickly adapt to shift work or long-haul flights, and so our bodies’ clocks are built to resist such rapid changes.”
Researchers used mice to study how well they coped when their cage lights were turned on and off at times outside their natural day-night pattern.
According to the Daily Telegraph “The study found mice lacking CK1epsilon could adjust to a new light-dark cycle much faster than normal, as could normal mice fed drugs to counter CK1″.
Bechtold said the findings paved the way for the invention of a pill to inhibit enzyme CK1epsilon in humans.
A drug which inhibits the same enzyme could help the body clock adapt to changes, helping people to recover from jet lag and night shifts.
Researchers said it could be available in five years.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say