Currently three species in the UK hibernate – but scientists think humans could one day enter the mix.
All of the UK’s bat species, hedgehogs and the dormouse retreat to cosy boltholes from around October until they reenter the world up to five months later. Now, scientists say this could benefit humans who could enjoy conserving their energy over the colder months. The process of hibernation in the 19th Century was described as “a natural, temporary, intermediate state, between life and death.”
While hibernation methods vary between animals, humans could find their own version. Some animals such as the Hazel Doormouse spends five months in a nest of wet leaves, while others such as the Djungarian Hamsters found in Siberia can hibernate for as little as a few hours a day.
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Sleep scientists made a clear distinction between taking a snooze and hibernating. The latter means the animal appears “half dead” with no food or water and slower breathing and heart rates.
Recent research suggests animals also hibernate to escape environmental calamities, such as changing temperatures. It’s thought some animals were able to survive dinosaurs and the Ice Age simply by hibernating.
Humans, however, were able to adapt out of their need to hibernate. They created fire, shelter and treatments which meant they could survive most world issues.
Previously, a physician W J Kolff observed a patient using a drug named Chlorpromazine. It was thought to put humans who were injured or “beyond recovery” into an artificial hibernation to help heal them. It did help reduce metabolic rates in humans. However, this drug became more popular in treating psychosis.
Not many drug-related tests have been performed since the 19th Century, but it is now clear the hedgehogs did not always hibernate. Instead it was an evolutionary adaption to help with a decrease in food sources. Now, University of Oxford professor Vladyslav Vyazovskiy suggested there is a chance humans could get to that state.
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They wrote in a journal: “What if, deep down, humans always knew how to hibernate, and when conditions are right, and when it comes to the point when alternative ways to continue existing are unimaginable, we can bring back to life this forgotten ancestral memory, and enter hibernation in our own, human way?”
Perhaps a change in atmosphere could allow humans to evolve in the same way. He also added “hibernation enables [animals] to time travel, to transcend time.” Despite sleeping, the animals appeared to gain longevity and live for longer, suggesting hibernation could be a life-enhancing process for them and even us.
Recently, research from PNAS compared red blood cells from Egyptian fruit bats and common noctule bats. They tested how the red blood cells change as they cooled the blood, to see if human red blood cells would allow for hibernation.
The Egyptian fruit bat sample, although not prone to hibernation, did adapt to the circumstances. From this, some scientists believe a drug could be developed that could encourage human cells to do something similar.
This could slow down the metabolism of patients who may need major organ transplants, brain surgery, or other surgical procedures. They could essentially “hibernate” until the procedure was ready, writes BGR Science.
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