Body clocks, genes and depression

People suffering from depression can often suffer from sleep problems as well, particularly waking up early in the morning and not being able to get back to sleep again. Researchers from Ohio State University compared 30 people with a history of depression to 30 people who had never had it. They looked into levels of a substance called messenger RNA related to four genes which help govern people's body clocks. The participants who had had depression had a higher level of activity in the 'Clock' gene suggesting that they had a problem with their body clocks.