Jet lag could increase your risk of cancer, new research suggests.
The same protein that controls cell multiplication also influences people’s internal body clocks, a study found.
Lead author Dr Angela Relógio from the Charité-Medical University in Berlin, said: ‘Based on our results, it seems to us that the clock is likely to act as a tumour suppressor.
‘One cannot stop wondering whether disrupted circadian timing should be included as a next potential hallmark of cancer.’
Our internal clock is in sync with external light and dark cues, and prompts people’s behaviour and activity levels.
Someone is diagnosed with cancer every two minutes in the UK, with breast, prostate, lung and bowel tumours making up more than half of cases.
