[ad_1]
Every year, sleepy drivers cause thousands of road collisions, many of which are fatal.
In an effort to keep people from driving while tired, researchers at the University of Surrey have developed a new blood test that reveals if you are sleep deprived.
Dr. Emma Laing, who worked on the study, said, "We all know that lack of sleep is a significant risk to our physical and mental health, especially over a period of time.
"However, it is difficult to independently assess a person's amount of sleep, making it difficult for the police to know if drivers are fit to drive or employers to know if the staff is fit to work.
To develop the test, the researchers took blood samples from 36 participants before and after a night's sleep.
An automatic learning algorithm analyzed the blood and identified a subset of 68 genes related to sleep depreciation.
The results revealed that the algorithm could detect whether a sample came from a well-rested or sleep-deprived individual with an accuracy of 92%.
Video unavailable
Professor Simon Archer, another author of the study, said: "The identification of these biomarkers is the first step in developing a test that can accurately calculate the amount of sleep an individual has. .
"The very existence of such biomarkers in the blood after only a 24-hour waking period shows the physiological impact that a lack of sleep can have on our body."
Source link
