Not getting enough sleep for just one week affects the way in which hundreds of the body's genes work, a new study has found.

According to UK scientists, not getting enough sleep is associated with a range of health problems including heart disease, obesity and cognitive impairment. However until now, it was unclear how genes were affected by a lack of sleep.

The scientists from the University of Surrey decided to investigate this further. They monitored the activity of all the genes found in the human genome and discovered that getting less than six hours sleep a night affects the way in which over 700 genes work.

These 700 genes include ones associated with controlling immunity and inflammation. They also include genes associated with how the body responds to stress.

"This research has helped us to understand the effects of insufficient sleep on gene expression. Now that we have identified these effects we can use this information to further investigate the links between gene expression and overall health," the scientists explained.

They added that this is a ‘vital area of research'.

"By combining our expertise in sleep and ‘genomics' (the study of the full complement of our genes), we are starting to make breakthroughs that will have an impact on our understanding and treatment of poor health arising from insufficient sleep," they added.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.