A Japanese team of scientists, whose study appears in the online journal Nature Medicine, have raised the possibility that disturbances in the body’s 24-hour clock have a direct link to cardiovascular disease.

Working on mice, they found a genetic risk factor for high blood pressure to be influenced by the body’s 24-hour or circadian rhythms.

Any mal-functioning in the body clock, directly responsible for influencing much of the body’s chemistry, has been linked to many diseases.

Professor Hitoshi Okamura, lead researcher says this latest study bears out data that suggests people who work shifts, long-distance flight crews, including people suffering from sleep disorders are at a heightened risk of heart problems.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney damage, including many other medical problems.

Scientists have identified many genes as essential elements that make up the circadian clock.

For example, the latest study by Kyoto University found mice lacking a pair of molecules known as cryptochromes, to have an abnormal circadian rhythm. They were also found to be vulnerable to high blood pressure, because they had abnormally high levels of a aldosterone, a hormone that prompts water retention in the kidneys.

The circadian clock researchers showed, is directly responsible for controlling a gene that has the main role in production of the hormone, with a similar gene to be found in humans.

However, researchers say more studies need to be conducted for determining, whether a faulty circadian clock can also result in high blood pressure in humans.