How might compromised sleep put one at risk for poorer health outcomes? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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While it’s been observed that disease and poor sleep seem to sort together, ongoing research is looking into the why of it. Johns Hopkins sleep expert Charlene Gamaldo says a couple of possible causes have emerged.

Gamaldo: A couple of the areas that they're looking at is whether melatonin certainly looks like it has some anticarcinogenic protection and it makes sense because especially with shift work it's a circadian issue and melatonin is very much involved for our sleep clock. There is also some research looking at telomeres and sleep, those little caps on the chromosome. Every time the cell splits that cap gets a little bit smaller. Sleep disruption has been associated with shortened telomere length.     :33

Gamaldo says additional studies on both melatonin and telomere length are underway, with lots of questions remaining about the utility of supplements or how to intervene as telomeres shorten. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.