An "eternal summer" created by home heating and lighting may be disrupting seasonal rhythms in the human body with the risk of illness or even premature death, researchers say.

    Scientists fear that the prevalence of warm houses and sustained contact with bright lights could supress important genes which have evolved to activate at different times of the year.

    They think perpetually warm dwellings may be a recipe for disaster as the sensitive proteins – some of which kick in during the winter to fight off common diseases like flu – are fooled into thinking it is still the summer and do not activate.

    Scientists at the University of Cambridge have previously found that a quarter of human genes display seasonal variation, including the protection against various infectious diseases.

    Now a study says that the efficacy of these genes could be hampered by modern Western lifestyles.

    Tyler Stevenson, a senior lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, said, "The real take-home message is that seasonal rhythms are pervasive.

    "Just like daily rhythms which tell us to sleep at night, a similar thing is happening seasonally.

    "But over time these seasonal signals are dampening down.

    "During the 20th century our species has developed technologies that allow precise light and climate control over our living environments and humans in developed societies now spend the vast majority of their lives in conditions that mimic 'summer-like' environments.

    "These so-called eternal summers are characterized by light and temperature controls that lack seasonal rhythmicity.

    "Seasonal changes in environmental variables play a significant role in the regulation of many physiological and behavioral processes.

    "Presently many of us no longer live in accordance with the naturally occurring variation in geophysical rhythms."

    The research appears in the journal Proceedings of The Royal Society B.

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    永恒的

    yǒnghéng de

    eternal

    lasting forever, always existing

    普遍的

    pǔbiàn de

    pervasive

    spread throughout

    人为实现冬暖夏凉易引发疾病

    研究人员指出，由家庭供暖和照明设备创造的“永恒夏日”可能会扰乱人体内部的季节节律，有着导致人们患病甚至过早死亡的风险。

    科学家们担心温暖宜人的房子的普及和持续的明亮灯光可能抑制人体重要基因的活动，这些基因已经进化出在一年当中的不同时期激活的机制。

    他们认为永远温暖的房屋有可能导致灾难性后果，因为敏感蛋白会误以为时间还是夏天而不激活发挥作用，其中有些敏感蛋白会在冬季激活以抵抗流感等常见疾病。

    剑桥大学的科学家此前已经发现人体内四分之一的基因呈季节性变化，包括抵抗各种传染病的侵袭。

    现在一项研究表明，这些基因的效力可能会受到现代西方生活方式的阻碍。

    阿伯丁大学的高级讲师泰勒?史蒂芬森指出：“真正重要的信息就是季节节律是普遍存在的。”

    “就像日常节律告诉我们要在晚上睡觉一样，季节节律也发挥着类似的调节作用。”

    “但是随着时间的流逝，这些季节信号都被抑制了。”

    “在20世纪，我们人类实现了对生活环境进行精准的灯光和气候控制的技术，现在发达国家的人们生命中的大部分时间都在一种‘模拟夏日’的环境中度过。”

    “这种所谓的永恒夏日的特点就是由于而缺乏季节节律。”

    “环境变量中的季节变化在许多生理和行为过程的调节上发挥重要作用。”

    “现在许多人不再依照地球物理节奏的自然变化生活。”

    此研究登载在期刊《英国皇家学会学报生物学专辑》上。