An amazing discovery by researchers at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom has found that the time of day you are injured -- from a cut, scrape, or burn, for example -- actually affects how fast you will heal. That’s because during the day, a group of about 30 genes are more active. These genes control actin, the protein that tells fibroblast cells to rush to the wound and immediately start the process of cell regeneration.
Measuring they body's response times:
- Researchers analyzed burn injuries and found that, on average, daytime wounds healed about 60 percent faster – in 17 days, compared to 28 days for burns sustained at night.
- The findings add to accumulating evidence that circadian rhythm plays a role in medicine. For example: If drugs could mimic daytime status in the body, could doctors heal people faster?
- The study was published in the 8 November 2017 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine.