Scientists have pinpointed a protein that helps explain why the elderly frequently have to get up in the night to urinate, a problem that can badly interfere with sleep. The chronic need to urinate at night, a condition called nocturnal enuresis, also causes bedwetting by young children.
The protein factor
Deficient levels of protein called connexin43 trick the bladder into believing that it is full, which sends a “must urinate” warning to the brain, they report on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. Connexin43 is part of a cascade of proteins in the so-called circadian clock — the complex mechanism by which body processes crank up during daylight and slow down at night.
During sound sleep, a healthy person produces a smaller volume of urine from the kidneys than during daytime. At the same time, more urine is stored during sleep than during the active, daylight phase.......Read More
Source: The Hindu
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