The researchers believe that they have identified the genetic code, which makes some people sleepwalk. They studied four generation of a family in which nine members out of twenty-two suffered the condition. It was revealed that all the sufferers had a defect on a particular chromosome and carrying even one copy of defective DNA is sufficient to cause sleepwalking.
The condition usually affects one in ten kids and nearly one in fifty adults. Several children have episodes in which they arise from their sleep in trance like state and walk around. However, in more severe cases sleepwalking can be intensely upsetting and can be absolutely hazardous, especially when the condition perseveres in middle age.
The people with condition are also known as somnambulism, can carry out benign actions like pulling on a pair of socks. There have been cases where sleepwalker died due to walking on busy road or they have injured their family member. Very little is known about the causes of sleepwalking, though stress and fatigue are known to trigger the condition.
The episodes typically come on early in the night and can last from seconds to hours and the sufferer is incapable to remember the incident when they wake. In the newest study, Dr Christina Gurnett and team from the Washington University School of Medicine observed a family in which half were prolific sleepwalkers.
After analyzing the saliva samples of family members, researchers found the problem stemmed from a defect on chromosome 20, which was passed down from generation to generation. They also found that any individual who inherited a copy of the faulty DNA would be a sleepwalker. Even though they have yet to discover the specific gene or genes involved.
It is possible that numerous genes will be involved. What they have found is the first genetic locus for sleepwalking. They do not know yet which of the genes in this linkage region of chromosome 20 will be responsible. Until they find the gene we won’t know whether this accounts for several families or a large number of families who have sleepwalking.
But discovering these genes could help with identifying and treating the condition, stated Dr Gurnett.