Have your coffee mug ready and make sure the alarms are (correctly) set. US clocks leap forward an hour this Sunday, and while we can all appreciate some extra light in the early evening, there’s also that Monday morning malaise to deal with.

Fortunately, medicine has kept a watchful eye on those of us losing sleep, whether by cruelty of a clock or an actual disorder. You might be cranky and sluggish when you haven’t slept, but there’s plenty more that could be wrong with your system, as messing with the clock on the wall might affect your biological clock, too.

For example, abnormalities in your circadian rhythm — the biological cycle of arousal — translate to abnormalities in metabolism. Many of the same genes and proteins function in each, so a change in sleep can mean a change in feeding behavior, not to mention digestion. (Makes you rethink breakfast, huh?) Similarly, a loss of circadian function among mice has been linked to the development of hypertension. So, sleeping through your alarm might get you heart pumping, but be careful of the long-term effects.

There is, however, hope. A neurotransmitter called orexin has been shown to play a crucial role in arousal. Blocking orexin might prove a viable treatment, according to research, for those who have trouble sleeping, such as insomniacs. Administering orexin could instead help people with problems staying awake, like narcoleptics — but probably not those of us who just keep hitting the snooze button.

As for those of you who have no problem waking up earlier, we envy you, but we might also understand you. The timing of sleep and wake might have a genetic basis, according to a study published in Nature Medicine. This could help explain the temperaments of natural early risers and night owls. So, come Monday, if you find yourself late for work, you could — whether your boss believes you or not — blame it on your genes.

Image by peapodsquadmom via Flickr Creative Commons