How does circadian rhythm affect your overall health. What are the most effective ways to reset your internal clock. Can lifestyle changes improve your sleep-wake cycle. How long does it take to adjust your circadian rhythm.

Understanding Your Circadian Rhythm: The Body’s Internal Clock

Your circadian rhythm is more than just a sleep schedule – it’s a complex biological process that regulates various bodily functions over a 24-hour cycle. This internal clock influences not only when you feel sleepy or alert but also impacts hormone production, immune function, and even digestion.

Why is circadian rhythm so crucial? It orchestrates the timing of numerous physiological processes, ensuring they occur at optimal times throughout the day. Disruptions to this rhythm can lead to a range of health issues, from sleep disorders to metabolic problems.

The Science Behind Circadian Rhythms

At the core of circadian rhythms are specific genes that interact with proteins to create a feedback loop. This loop is influenced by external cues called zeitgebers, with light being the most powerful. Other zeitgebers include temperature, meal times, and social interactions.

• Light exposure triggers the suppression of melatonin production
• Core body temperature fluctuates throughout the day, reaching its lowest point during sleep
• Cortisol levels peak in the morning, helping you wake up and feel alert

Signs Your Circadian Rhythm Might Be Disrupted

How can you tell if your internal clock is out of sync? Several indicators might suggest a disrupted circadian rhythm:

1. Difficulty falling asleep or waking up at desired times
2. Feeling excessively tired during the day
3. Mood swings or irritability
4. Changes in appetite or digestion
5. Decreased cognitive function or concentration

Is it possible to function normally with a disrupted circadian rhythm? While some people may adapt to irregular schedules, chronic disruption can lead to long-term health consequences, including increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and certain cancers.

The Impact of Modern Lifestyle on Circadian Rhythms

Our 24/7 society often conflicts with our natural biological rhythms. Late-night work shifts, international travel, and constant exposure to artificial light can all throw our internal clocks into disarray. How exactly do these factors affect our circadian rhythms?

Night Shift Work and Circadian Disruption

Night shift workers face unique challenges in maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm. Their work schedules often directly oppose the body’s natural inclination to sleep at night and be active during the day. This misalignment can lead to a condition known as shift work disorder, characterized by insomnia, excessive sleepiness, and reduced performance.

To mitigate these effects, night shift workers can:

• Use light therapy to adjust their sleep-wake cycle
• Maintain a consistent sleep schedule, even on days off
• Create a dark, quiet sleeping environment during daytime rest periods
• Limit caffeine intake, especially in the hours leading up to sleep

The Role of Technology in Circadian Disruption

Our increasing reliance on digital devices has introduced new challenges to maintaining healthy circadian rhythms. The blue light emitted by screens can suppress melatonin production, making it harder to fall asleep. How can we balance our use of technology with our need for healthy sleep patterns?

Consider implementing these strategies:

1. Use blue light filtering apps or glasses in the evening
2. Establish a “digital sunset” time, after which you avoid screens
3. Keep electronic devices out of the bedroom
4. Opt for warm, dim lighting in the hours leading up to bedtime

Effective Strategies for Resetting Your Circadian Rhythm

Resetting your circadian rhythm is not an overnight process, but with consistency and patience, it’s achievable. Here are some evidence-based strategies to help realign your internal clock:

Light Exposure Management

Light is the most powerful zeitgeber for our circadian rhythms. How can we harness its power to reset our internal clocks?

• Seek bright light exposure in the morning, ideally natural sunlight
• Use light therapy boxes if natural light is limited
• Dim lights in the evening to signal to your body that it’s time to wind down
• Avoid blue light from screens at least 2 hours before bedtime

Sleep Schedule Consistency

Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is crucial for resetting your circadian rhythm. This means going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends. While it may be tempting to “catch up” on sleep during days off, this can actually disrupt your rhythm further.

How long does it take to adjust to a new sleep schedule? While individual experiences may vary, research suggests that it typically takes about a week of consistent timing for the body to adapt to significant changes in sleep schedules.

Meal Timing and Composition

Your eating habits can significantly influence your circadian rhythm. The timing of your meals acts as a zeitgeber, signaling to your body what time of day it is. How can you use meal timing to your advantage?

• Try to eat meals at consistent times each day
• Avoid large meals close to bedtime
• Consider time-restricted feeding or intermittent fasting under medical supervision

What about the composition of your meals? Some research suggests that high-carbohydrate meals may promote sleepiness, while high-protein meals might enhance alertness. Tailoring your meal composition to your desired state of alertness could potentially support your circadian rhythm reset efforts.

Exercise and Circadian Rhythms: Timing Matters

Regular physical activity can have a positive impact on your circadian rhythm, but the timing of your workouts can make a difference. How does exercise influence your internal clock?

Exercise can act as a zeitgeber, helping to reinforce your desired sleep-wake cycle. However, the optimal timing for exercise can vary between individuals. Some people find that morning exercise helps them feel more alert throughout the day and sleep better at night. Others may prefer evening workouts to help them unwind.

Generally, it’s advisable to avoid intense exercise close to bedtime, as the increase in core body temperature and the release of endorphins can make it harder to fall asleep. Aim to finish vigorous workouts at least 3 hours before your intended bedtime.

Types of Exercise for Better Sleep

While any form of regular physical activity can benefit your sleep, certain types of exercise may be particularly helpful:

• Aerobic exercise: Activities like jogging, cycling, or swimming can improve sleep quality and duration
• Yoga: The combination of physical postures and mindfulness can help reduce stress and promote better sleep
• Strength training: Regular resistance exercises may help improve sleep efficiency and reduce the time it takes to fall asleep

The Role of Nutrition in Circadian Rhythm Regulation

Your diet plays a crucial role in regulating your circadian rhythm. Certain nutrients and dietary patterns can help reinforce your internal clock, while others may disrupt it. How can you optimize your nutrition for better circadian health?

Chrononutrition: Eating in Sync with Your Body Clock

Chrononutrition is an emerging field that explores how the timing of nutrient intake affects metabolic health and circadian rhythms. Research suggests that aligning your eating patterns with your body’s natural rhythms may have beneficial effects on metabolism, weight management, and overall health.

Key principles of chrononutrition include:

• Eating larger meals earlier in the day when metabolism is most active
• Avoiding late-night snacking, which can disrupt sleep and metabolic processes
• Maintaining consistent meal times to reinforce circadian rhythms

Nutrients That Support Circadian Health

Certain nutrients play important roles in the regulation of circadian rhythms. Including these in your diet may help support healthy sleep-wake cycles:

1. Magnesium: Found in leafy greens, nuts, and whole grains, magnesium helps regulate melatonin production
2. Vitamin B6: Essential for the production of serotonin and melatonin, found in fish, poultry, and bananas
3. Omega-3 fatty acids: May help improve sleep quality and duration, found in fatty fish, flaxseeds, and walnuts
4. Tryptophan: An amino acid precursor to serotonin and melatonin, found in turkey, eggs, and cheese

Circadian Rhythms and Mental Health: A Two-Way Street

The relationship between circadian rhythms and mental health is complex and bidirectional. Disruptions to circadian rhythms can contribute to mental health issues, while mental health conditions can often lead to circadian rhythm disturbances. How does this interplay manifest, and what can be done to address it?

Circadian Disruptions in Mood Disorders

Many mood disorders, including depression and bipolar disorder, are associated with disruptions in circadian rhythms. People with these conditions often experience changes in sleep patterns, energy levels, and mood that follow a daily or seasonal pattern.

For example, in seasonal affective disorder (SAD), symptoms of depression typically onset during fall or winter when daylight hours are shorter, suggesting a strong link to circadian rhythm disruption. How can understanding this connection help in treatment?

• Light therapy is often used as an effective treatment for SAD
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) can help address sleep disturbances in various mood disorders
• Some medications used to treat mood disorders also have chronobiotic effects, helping to regulate circadian rhythms

Anxiety and Circadian Rhythms

Anxiety disorders can both cause and be exacerbated by circadian rhythm disruptions. People with anxiety may have trouble falling asleep or experience early morning awakenings, which can further increase anxiety levels. What strategies can help break this cycle?

1. Practicing good sleep hygiene, including maintaining a consistent sleep schedule
2. Engaging in relaxation techniques before bedtime, such as deep breathing or progressive muscle relaxation
3. Addressing anxiety symptoms through therapy or medication under professional guidance
4. Using mindfulness practices to reduce nighttime rumination

By addressing both the anxiety symptoms and the sleep disturbances, individuals may be able to improve both their mental health and their circadian rhythm regulation.

Circadian Rhythms Across the Lifespan: From Infancy to Old Age

Our circadian rhythms are not static throughout our lives. They evolve as we age, influenced by both biological changes and environmental factors. Understanding these changes can help us better manage our sleep and overall health at different life stages.

Infancy and Early Childhood

Newborns don’t have a fully developed circadian rhythm. How long does it take for babies to develop a regular sleep-wake cycle? Typically, infants begin to show signs of a circadian rhythm around 3-4 months of age. By 6 months, many babies have a more established pattern, although it continues to develop throughout early childhood.

Parents can support the development of healthy circadian rhythms in their children by:

• Exposing infants to natural light during the day
• Establishing consistent bedtime routines
• Gradually lengthening nighttime sleep periods
• Avoiding overstimulation in the evening hours

Adolescence and the “Night Owl” Phenomenon

During puberty, many adolescents experience a shift in their circadian rhythms, leading to later bedtimes and wake times. This biological change, combined with social and academic pressures, can often result in chronic sleep deprivation among teenagers.

How can we address this issue? Some strategies include:

1. Educating teens about the importance of sleep and circadian rhythms
2. Advocating for later school start times to align with adolescent biology
3. Encouraging consistent sleep schedules, even on weekends
4. Limiting evening screen time and promoting relaxing pre-bed activities

Aging and Circadian Rhythms

As we age, our circadian rhythms tend to shift earlier, leading many older adults to wake up and go to bed earlier than they did in their youth. Additionally, the strength of our circadian rhythms may weaken, leading to more fragmented sleep and daytime napping.

What can older adults do to maintain healthy circadian rhythms?

• Maintain regular exposure to natural light, especially in the morning
• Stay socially and physically active during the day
• Limit daytime napping, especially in the late afternoon
• Create a sleep-friendly environment with appropriate temperature and lighting

By understanding and adapting to these age-related changes, we can work to maintain healthy sleep patterns throughout our lives.

Do You Need to Reset Your Circadian Rhythm? – Cleveland Clinic

If you work third shift, pull all-nighters (whether it’s studying or bingeing a TV show) or experience jetlag, your internal clock might be off.

Circadian rhythm, the name given to your body’s 24-hour internal clock, controls your body’s sleep-wake cycle.

“It’s not just for sleep,” says behavioral sleep medicine psychologist Alicia Roth, PhD. “It’s for everything that goes on in our body. We have internal clocks for our hormones, our immune system, our digestion. Our organs all run on some sort of timing system.”

And everyone’s internal clock varies — you might be an early riser, a night owl or somewhere in between.

If you’ve been feeling tired and think your internal clock is off, can you reset your circadian rhythm? Dr. Roth gives us advice on how to improve our sleep schedule.

Can you reset your circadian rhythm?

Yes, you can reset your circadian rhythm. But first, it’s important to understand your own individual circadian rhythm.

“I tell a lot of patients that they’re trying to fit a square peg into a round hole,” says Dr. Roth. “For example, they might be natural night owls and their body wants to go to bed at midnight, but they’re pushing their body to go to bed at nine.”

In this example, because your body is not set up to go to bed that early, you might have trouble falling asleep and trouble waking up at the time you’d like.

“It’s also ideal to be aware of your circadian rhythm because it also dictates when you’re going to be most alert during the day and when you’re going to be the most productive,” says Dr. Roth. “People who are night owls tend to be most productive in the later evening. And people who are morning people tend to be most productive in the morning.”

Factors like light, temperature and when you eat affect your circadian rhythm as well. These are known as zeitgebers, external cues that impact your internal clock.

“So the sun is a zeitgeber,” says Dr. Roth. “Our school schedule, our work schedule, when we exercise, those are all zeitgebers. We can do things to change our circadian rhythm by what we expose ourselves to.”

How to reset your circadian rhythm

“Resetting your circadian rhythm really means resetting the timing of when you sleep and when you wake up,” says Dr. Roth. “It has to do more with the schedule of your sleep, rather than how well you fall asleep.”

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The following tips can help reset your circadian rhythm.

Have a routine

If you’ve been going to bed at all different hours of the night, try setting up a schedule and sticking with it. Once you’ve established a routine, you’ll be able to fall asleep and wake up easier.

It’s also important to stick close to that schedule on weekends or days off.

Exercise

Overall, exercise helps with melatonin production, which can help you sleep. And working out can help your body’s other systems sync with your circadian rhythm.

But when you work out and how you feel from it is different for everyone.

“Some people exercise in the morning because it makes them feel more energetic,” says Dr. Roth. “For others, it makes them tired, so they save it for after work.”

Avoid alcohol and caffeine in the evening

Pay attention to when you have that last cup of coffee. Drinking caffeine, which is a stimulant, can keep you awake late into the evening, when you’d ideally like to be winding down.

If you’re a fan of a nightcap, reconsider drinking alcohol in the evening, too. While you may find you’re sleepy or drowsy after drinking alcohol, it can affect your circadian rhythm in the long run.

Limit screen time

If you have a habit of scrolling through social media right before bedtime, stop.

The blue light from your cellphone and tablets restricts the production of melatonin and leads to a disruption in your circadian rhythm.

Try to avoid screens 30 minutes before bedtime.

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Avoid naps

While you may love taking an afternoon nap, that hourlong (or more) snooze can harm your circadian rhythm by making it harder to fall asleep at night.

If you do need to take a nap, limit it to 30 minutes or less and aim to nap before 3 p.m.

Gradually move your bedtime

Don’t expect to fix or reset your circadian rhythm overnight. Dr. Roth recommends gradually moving your bedtime. This can be done in half-hour shifts.

For example, if you currently go to sleep at 1 a.m. and wake up at 9 a.m., focus on going to bed at 12:30 p.m. and waking up at 8:30 a.m. for a week, and then shift those times back another half-hour the following week.

Why your circadian rhythm matters

Your circadian rhythm affects all aspects of your life, says Dr. Roth.

“For example, if your sleep times are off, your hunger could be off or your eating times,” says Dr. Roth. “We often see people who are sleep deprived that their hunger changes, either goes up or down and the timing of when they get hungry can change.”

How to tell it’s time for a reset

You might need to reset your circadian rhythm if you:

• Have trouble falling asleep.
• Have trouble staying awake in the evening.
• Have trouble waking in the morning.
• Have trouble focusing on daily tasks and responsibilities.

If you’re having trouble resetting your circadian rhythm on your own, a sleep medicine specialist or a behavioral sleep medicine psychologist can help determine if you have a circadian rhythm disorder.

“A circadian rhythm disorder is when your preferred sleep schedule isn’t aligned with what you want it to be,” says Dr. Roth. “Your doctor can recognize these disorders, do an assessment of these disorders and figure out how to help treat them.”

Dr. Roth says that treatments can include changing schedules, habits and behaviors, using light therapy and adding melatonin supplements.

“Our circadian rhythms evolve over time,” says Dr. Roth. “As we age, our circadian timing gets earlier. People in their 50s, 60s and 70s may start to want go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. If you were a night owl as a teenager, you could be a morning person when you’re an older adult. ”

Circadian Rhythm: How to Reset Your Master Clock

Our body’s circadian rhythms help us transition throughout the day in a way that’s efficient and predictable.

They’re important but also easily disrupted. A number of factors can throw our circadian rhythms off, including the bright phone screens we often stare at while doomscrolling at night. And when that happens our sleep — and health — can suffer.

Let’s get a better understanding of our circadian rhythms and what we can do to reset them when they’re thrown out of alignment.

What Is a Circadian Rhythm?

Circadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioral changes that happen in a roughly 24-hour cycle.

Many, many years ago, humans evolved in alignment with the environment in order to survive. Our bodies began responding to things like the rising and setting of the sun in order to anticipate changes in food availability, radiation, and temperature.

As a result, our modern-day circadian rhythms still respond primarily to light and dark and continue to affect important functions like temperature, blood pressure, mental alertness, hormone levels, and sleep.

Circadian rhythms are created by specific molecules (proteins) interacting with cells throughout the body. Our genes make up the molecular components that create our biological clocks that dictate our circadian rhythms.

While we often refer to one, singular “circadian rhythm,” there are actually several circadian rhythms in the body, with the most noticeable being the sleep-wake cycle.

How Does a Circadian Rhythm Work?

The truth is: We’re sensitive creatures, and that’s a good thing!

Our circadian rhythms work by responding to slight changes in the environment and within ourselves. These changes can be so subtle that we’re oblivious to them. But our internal operating system still processes the changes and alerts our cells to adjust accordingly.

You can think of your many circadian rhythms like gears that are all connected and causing each other to turn. Governing these gears is a master clock that keeps them running together.

This master clock — aka the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN — is made up of 20,000 nerve cells. The SCN lives in the hypothalamus portion of our brain and receives input from our eyes — particularly light.

Internally, the two most important genes in guiding our circadian rhythms are the “period” and “cryptochrome” genes, which signal certain proteins to build up in the nuclei of our cells at night and lessen during the day. Externally, our circadian rhythms are also guided by natural light, temperature, air pressure, and other factors.

When our circadian rhythms are working properly, they help us achieve regular, restful nights of sleep. And when our circadian rhythms are out of whack, they can have a detrimental impact on how we feel and function. When that happens, these natural rhythms, which generally run smoothly and without any effort on our part, require a little help to get back on track.

How Does Circadian Rhythm Affect Sleep?

Our sleep-wake cycle is the most noticeable of our circadian rhythms.

Here’s how it works: When our SCN detects darkness, it tells the brain to produce more melatonin, which makes us sleepy. In the morning, when the SCN detects light, it tells the brain to slow the production of melatonin so we can wake up more easily

Because of this, our bodies generally know when it’s time to wake up and when it’s time to go to sleep for optimal functioning. Understanding this natural cycle can go a long way in helping us sleep better without resorting to unpleasant interventions like addictive sleeping pills and jarring alarms.

What Throws Your Circadian Rhythm Out of Whack?

Unfortunately, our modern lives have introduced many sensory inputs that can disrupt how our circadian rhythms affect sleep.

Artificial light, exposure to blue light from electronics, noisy streets, caffeine, stress, and alcohol can all disrupt our circadian rhythms. There are also internal factors that can cause circadian rhythm disruptions, including our genes and our hormones.

What Happens When Your Circadian Rhythm is Disrupted

Our bodies are impressive in their ability to respond to input from the environment in order to make life easier and more comfortable.

But when our natural sleep-wake process is disrupted, we can suffer from circadian rhythm sleep disorders. These disorders occur when our internal sleep-wake cycle is no longer aligned with the external dark-light cycle.

Jet lag and shift work are two common sleep disorders caused by that misalignment. But while these two circadian rhythm sleep disorders can be cured over a relatively short period of time, disruptions to our natural sleep-wake cycle can also lead to more persistent sleep disorders that cause headaches, nausea, irritability, and even depression.

How to Reset Your Circadian Rhythm

It’s not only frustrating when we can’t fall asleep easily or awaken naturally, it can also be detrimental to our health.

Luckily, a circadian rhythm reset is possible.

Keeping a regular sleep schedule is the best way to maintain or reset a healthy circadian rhythm. That’s because going to bed around the same time every night and waking up around the same time every day — even on the weekends — creates a sleep-wake cycle your body can learn to predict.

If you need to change your sleep schedule, regular exposure to sunlight first thing in the morning can help you acclimate. If that’s not possible, using a lightbox or a sunrise simulator can help establish a new pattern for your internal clock to follow.

Proper exercise can also help reset your circadian rhythm because it gets your body good and tired during the day so you’re ready to fall asleep without a problem at night.

Caffeine is a popular option for helping us wake up each morning — and most people regularly enjoy a morning dose of caffeine, even when their circadian rhythms are perfectly aligned with their sleep cycles. But caffeine also wears off and can impact our body’s natural ability to become alert if we rely on it too heavily.

Those who regularly travel across time zones are familiar with the practice of forcing themselves to stay awake in order to reset their circadian rhythms. By staying up until dark, even if your body wants to hit the hay at 3 p. m., you can realign with the natural light-dark cycle.

The Bottom Line on Circadian Rhythms

Our circadian rhythms are usually capable of adjusting on their own. But the more we can align ourselves with the rising and setting of the sun by getting outside, getting exercise, and maintaining a regular sleep schedule, the less intervention is necessary.

READ NEXT: Need a Mid-Day Pick Me Up? Consider a Coffee Nap

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Britany Robinson is a freelance writer covering the connections between people, places, and the natural world. She’s also the creator of One More Question, a newsletter for nonfiction writers.

what it is and how to get enough sleep

We are controlled by circadian rhythms. This biological clock affects how we sleep, expend energy, and digest food. Let’s figure out how to make friends with them.

Our sleep schedule and activity schedule, and well-being in general, are subject to daily cycles. Therefore, sometimes, no matter what we do, it can be difficult to get ready for work in the afternoon or force ourselves to go to the gym in the morning.

In this article, we will figure out how to make friends with your biological clock in order to use it to your advantage.

Contents

• 1. What are circadian rhythms
• 2. How Our Internal Clock Works
• 3. How circadian rhythms affect our health
• 4. Why it is dangerous to disrupt circadian rhythms
• 5. How to reset your internal clock
• 6. Note

What are circadian rhythms

Circadian rhythms are the human biological clock. They set the rhythm for all vital processes in the body. The body clock is determined by genes that start and stop metabolic processes, such as storing energy or releasing hormones.

24 hours

how long does one biological clock cycle last on average

About 20% of all our genes are “turned on” and “off” during one complete cycle.

The main mechanism of the biological clock is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. This part of the brain is responsible for the response to stress, sexual behavior, coordination of actions and other important functions.

This nucleus receives information from light-sensitive cells of the retina and other receptors and based on it synchronizes the work of biorhythms .

Approximately so biological processes follow each other during the day

Also, the suprachiasmatic nucleus informs the pineal gland and endocrine gland when it is time to produce the sleep hormone melatonin.

Melatonin concentration increases in the evening, peaks at night and decreases during the day.

A with another important hormone, cortisol , the reverse story.

Photo by Jamie Street / Unsplash

Its concentration rises in the morning, when we need to be alert, and decreases in the evening, when we start to feel sleepy.

How our internal clock works

The genes responsible for the operation of the internal clock are called period and timeless . Their activity fluctuates throughout the day and is regulated by a feedback loop mechanism. As soon as the level of proteins encoded by these genes reaches a certain level, the synthesis of these proteins stops. The level drops – synthesis resumes.

Sleep and wakefulness are affected by light

Light and its absence are the main, though not the only, regulators of circadian rhythms.

Cold blue light from office lamps, computer screens, TVs and smartphones disrupts these rhythms. As a result, the body “thinks” that daylight hours are in full swing. Red and green light also negatively affect the course of the internal clock.

Circadian rhythms are “turned on” and “turned off” by light. Bright artificial light triggers cascades of chemical reactions and disrupts the correct daily routine.

Human circadian rhythms are not a separate organ, they cannot be seen or felt. But they are necessary for health and normal life – and persist even in many blind people.

Photo by Max van den Oetelaar / Unsplash

If you watch TV shows at night, eat late and heavy dinners, work the night shift and go to bed at dawn, the coordinated work of genes and circadian rhythms is disrupted. Some metabolic processes start later than usual, while others stop altogether.

How Circadian Rhythms Affect Our Health

Night shifts can increase your risk of cancer – disrupted circadian rhythms make it harder for the body to prevent tumor formation.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has even classified shift work as a carcinogen.

Working with a constant night schedule rather than a hopping schedule may be less dangerous in this regard.

Photo by Kartabya Aryal / Unsplash

Scientists have linked circadian rhythm disturbances to serious but preventable diseases: type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, stroke and cancer.

To understand how these diseases develop, we need to look at what happens when we break our sleep hygiene.

• How circadian rhythms affect digestion

The gastrointestinal tract produces the most enzymes, gastric juice and related substances in the first half of the day.

Therefore, it is advisable to have a hearty breakfast, but have a light supper.

Also in the morning the peristalsis works most actively. If you eat heavily at night and wake up late, the risk of constipation, colic, bloating and indigestion increases, because the digestion process slows down.

Taking care of your digestive health is easier with the Atlas Microbiota Test. You will learn how diverse the composition of the bacteria in your intestines, whether there are enough beneficial bacteria, and how the microflora protects you from diseases. How circadian rhythms affect the brain

Photo by Konstantine Trundayev / Unsplash

This fluid removes metabolic products, including toxic compounds that impair memory function. Also, during sleep, myelin sheaths are actively restored – they are needed to transmit signals between neurons.

Sleep phase disruption interrupts these important processes.

As a result, we wake up tired, lethargic and not ready for serious intellectual work.

If you constantly ignore your biological rhythms, this can lead to neuropsychiatric disorders.

• How circadian rhythms affect disease risk

Insomnia, lack of sleep and poor sleep quality lead to hypertension and insulin resistance, which increases blood glucose levels. These symptoms signal metabolic disorders and diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Studies show that people who work night shifts are more likely to suffer from obesity, type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

The risk of developing these diseases is also increased in people with disturbed circadian rhythms.

Why disrupting circadian rhythms is dangerous

Poor sleep quality brings other, less obvious problems. A sleepy person easily gains weight and hardly loses it.

He crave sweets and junk food more often than healthy food, because the body tries to compensate for the lack of energy with cravings for simple carbohydrates.

Also, if jet lag becomes more difficult to fall asleep and wake up, addiction to caffeine develops.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao / Unsplash

I want to sleep as long as possible, but sleep stops replenishing my strength.

The risk of depression increases, there are mood swings during the day and bursts of negative emotions. And the body becomes more vulnerable to diseases and infections.

How to reset your internal clock

The good news is that a broken body clock can be repaired.

Together with the correct daily routine, you will return to productivity and healthy sleep. Restoring your circadian rhythms and daily routine doesn’t mean going to bed right after sunset, especially if you’re a night owl.

The main thing is to avoid artificial light and fall asleep during the time period when melatonin is produced, that is, from 12 am to 4 am.

Avoiding gadgets an hour or two before bed will help you fall asleep easier. Also in the evening it is worth turning on lamps with warm dimmed light instead of bright fluorescent lamps. To restore the sleep pattern, you need to go to bed every day at about the same time, even if it is a day off.

If you often feel tired and distracted during the day and do not sleep well, you may have thrown off your biological clock. Here’s what will help bring everything back to normal:

• If you really need to check social networks before going to bed or watch a movie on your tablet, turn on the night mode – with it, the backlight becomes yellowish and less bright.
• Switch from visual content to audio before bed: listen to podcasts and audio books.
• Avoid alcohol in the late evening – it impairs the quality of sleep.
• Go to bed slightly hungry.
• Buy heavy, light-blocking curtains and open them as soon as you wake up.
• In the afternoon, choose decaffeinated drinks.
• Use ear plugs and a sleep mask if outside noises or street lights interrupt your sleep.

Genetics can also influence sleep patterns: for example, insomnia can be inherited. To identify the genetic predisposition to insomnia and the characteristics of caffeine metabolism, you can use the Atlas Genetic Test.

More interesting articles about sleep on the Atlas blog:

• Sleep, diet, and giving up your smartphone: habits that will make you happier
• Night work: dangers and health benefits
• Sleep and microbiota: how appetite and digestion are related to sleep quality

• Sachin Panda, The Circadian Code
• Koch C. E. et al., Interaction between Circadian Rhythm and Stress 2017
• S. Panda et al., Coordinated Transcription of Key Pathways in the Mouse by the Circadian Clock
• Blue light has a dark side
• Circadian rhythms fact sheet
• Thomas C. Erren et al., Shift Work and Cancer 2010
• Bennett J.E. et al. (2018). NCD Countdown 2030: worldwide trends in non-communicable disease mortality and progress towards Sustainable Development Goal target 3.4
• NHS Prevalence, Achievements and Exceptions workbooks 2016
• The role of sleep and wakefulness in myelin plasticity
• Night shift work, short sleep and obesity

Circadian rhythm disorders. What is Circadian Rhythm Disorders?

IMPORTANT
The information in this section should not be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment. In case of pain or other exacerbation of the disease, only the attending physician should prescribe diagnostic tests. For diagnosis and proper treatment, you should contact your doctor.

Circadian rhythm disorders are a type of insomnia in which there is a mismatch between the internal sleep-wake cycle and the external day-night cycle. The condition develops when changing time zones (jet lag), shift and shift work schedule, neurological diseases. Disorders of circadian rhythms cause psycho-emotional disorders, reduce performance, increase the risk of endocrine and cardiological problems. Diagnosis includes a detailed history taking, polysomnography, and neuroimaging. Drugs (melatonin, sleeping pills), non-drug correction of the rest regimen are used for treatment.

ICD-10

G47.2 Disorders of sleep and wake cycles

• Causes
• Pathogenesis
• Symptoms
  • Jet lag
  • Insomnia during shift work
  • Sleep phasing disorder
• Complications
• Diagnostics
• Treatment of circadian rhythm disorders
• Prognosis and prevention
• Prices for treatment

General information

Disruptions in physiological circadian rhythms are one of the most common problems in modern neurology, with various manifestations of which every person periodically encounters. The condition is of great relevance due to the lack of effective medical methods of correction, a pronounced negative impact on the well-being and somatic health of patients. Despite improvements in treatment, many people continue to suffer from circadian sleep disorders.

Circadian Rhythm Disorders

Causes

Changes in sleep cycles may have physiological prerequisites: in adolescence, falling asleep is usually delayed, which does not match the prescribed norms, while in old age, on the contrary, people go to bed too early and then wake up in the middle of the night and can no longer fall asleep. The pathological causes of circadian biorhythm disorders include the following:

• Features of the work schedule. People who work in shifts (day/night), on a daily basis or on a rotational basis are more likely to encounter problems with somnological disorders. Pathology is caused by the inability of the body to adapt to different times of falling asleep and waking up, frequent episodes of rest in the daytime in bright light.
• Frequent travel. The change of time zones negatively affects the coordination of endogenous and external biorhythms. As a result, insomnia develops in the first few days. The situation is exacerbated by regular business trips with a time shift of more than 2 hours.
• Neurodegenerative diseases. Since circadian rhythms are regulated by the central nervous system, persistent changes in sleep-wake cycles are often formed in its pathology. Typical causes: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s chorea.
• Blindness. People who are blind from birth are most likely to suffer from sleep disorders because they are unable to detect external circadian rhythms. In such patients, their own internal biorhythms are not consistent with the generally accepted 24-hour system.

Pathogenesis

The regulation of human internal circadian rhythms is subject to a complex molecular mechanism that includes 9 main “clock” regulator genes. They contribute to the production of transcription factors, the activation of casein kinases, cryptochrome proteins responsible for capturing the level of illumination. An important role is played by genes that stimulate the production of melatonin and contribute to the realization of the effects of the hormone.

Normally, all substances work together, maintaining the circadian cycle, which is regulated by feedback. But with a sharp change in external daily rhythms (time zones), constant exposure to lighting at night (shift work, non-compliance with sleep hygiene), natural circadian rhythms are desynchronized. In the brain, the production of melatonin decreases, functional pathologies of the central nervous system occur.

Symptoms

Circadian rhythm disorders have similar clinical features: insomnia at night, pathological daytime sleepiness, impaired performance and concentration associated with sleep deprivation. As a rule, there are headaches, causeless mood swings, many patients are worried about unexplained anxiety, nervousness. Sometimes there are digestive disorders, interruptions in the work of the heart.

Jet lag

The symptom complex is most clearly manifested in jetlag (a sharp change in time zones). Disorders of circadian rhythms disturb a person from 2-3 days to several weeks. The greater the difference in time between the starting point and the place of the current stay, the more pronounced the signs. Trips to the east with the transfer of falling asleep to an earlier time are more difficult to endure, while the body adapts to traveling to the west rather quickly.

Shift work insomnia

In this case, the intensity of the symptoms of jet lag depends on the number of work shifts per month, their duration, and the rotation schedule. The most severe manifestations are noted in non-fixed work with a chaotic alternation of shifts and counterclockwise rotation. In addition, often patients deliberately sleep less in order to spend time with their families and participate in social life.

Sleep phasing disorder

This type of disturbance is characterized by a normal quality of night rest combined with a discrepancy between the physiological schedule and the desired daily routine. Young people mostly have a delayed onset of the sleep phase, which is why they go to bed late at night, and then hardly wake up in the morning to study or work. The elderly, on the contrary, suffer from an advanced phase, waking up too early.

Usually, there is no difficulty in falling asleep at “one’s own rhythm”, which distinguishes the condition from typical insomnia. The main problem of sleep phase disorders is the need to adapt to the generally accepted routine, as a result of which patients experience a constant lack of rest, during working hours they suffer from problems with thinking, memory, and concentration.

Complications

With prolonged disruption of circadian rhythms, the content of leptin (the hormone of satiety) decreases by 7-10%, and the rate of ghrelin (the hormone of hunger) increases. This is fraught with overeating, obesity, to which women are more susceptible due to metabolic characteristics. Chronic lack of sleep reduces the immune defense of the body, increases the risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease.

Another danger of circadian disorders is that people with this problem often do not seek medical help, trying to cope with the situation on their own. Patients resort to alcohol, sleeping pills, and sedatives to help them fall asleep, and take psychostimulants during the day to improve their performance. As a result, the pathology is exacerbated by dependence on psychoactive substances.

Diagnosis

The main step in the diagnosis of biorhythm desynchronization is a detailed questioning of the insomniac: collecting complaints, information about professional activities, and the frequency of travel. Several doctors are often involved in the examination – neurologists, psychiatrists, somnologists, specialized specialists in somatic diseases. The diagnostic plan includes:

• Polysomnography. The study is used for a comprehensive study of various sleep parameters, identifying the root cause of insomnia, excluding dangerous diseases (obstructive sleep apnea, sleep paralysis, narcolepsy).
• MRI of the brain. Neuroimaging is prescribed for suspected organic lesions of the cerebral cortex or subcortical nuclei. MRI is an important diagnostic tool for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
• Psychiatric consultation. Disorders of circadian rhythms can occur against the background of neurosis, depression, psychopathy, so the patient definitely needs a profile examination, passing special tests and questionnaires.

Treatment of circadian rhythm disorders

Therapy of circadian rhythm disorders is a complex task. The best option to deal with the problem is to eliminate the precipitating factor, if possible (move to a position with a standard working day, limit long-haul flights). However, in most cases, radical measures are not suitable for patients, or the trigger cannot be completely eliminated. In such a situation, several directions of treatment are used:

• Compliance with the rules of healthy sleep. This item is especially important for people who work in shifts and are forced to sleep during the day. It is necessary to ensure the maximum darkening of the room, protect yourself from harsh sounds, explain to family members in advance, ask them to treat the situation with understanding.
• Advance preparation for the flight. To minimize the manifestations of jet lag, it is recommended to start shifting the time to fall asleep in advance in order to adapt the mode to the intended travel destination. For convenience, there are special sites that help to shift the sleep-wake schedule correctly, without harm to health.
• Taking melatonin. The hormonal drug has a physiological effect on endogenous rhythms, helps to fall asleep faster, improves the quality of sleep. Taking into account the type of insomnia, an individual schedule for taking the medication is selected at least 1-1.5 hours before the desired moment of falling asleep.

According to indications, other medications (hypnotics, psychostimulants, adaptogens) can be prescribed. In each case, a personalized regimen of drug use is selected in order to eliminate negative symptoms and at the same time not aggravate circadian disorders. Dosages and medication schedules are carefully monitored by a neurologist.

Prognosis and prevention

Circadian disorders are quite difficult to treat, however, with an integrated approach, a combination of drugs and non-drug methods, it is possible to synchronize biorhythms. A less favorable prognosis for patients with neurodegenerative pathologies that are not subject to correction. Prevention includes the observance of hygiene of rest, the correct organization of the labor process, regular medical examinations of people employed in shift/shift work.

You can share your medical history, what helped you in the treatment of circadian rhythm disorders.
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• This article was prepared based on the materials of the site: https://www.krasotaimedicina.ru/

IMPORTANT
Information from this section cannot be used for self-diagnosis and self-treatment In case of pain or other exacerbation of the disease, only the attending physician should prescribe diagnostic tests. For diagnosis and proper treatment, you should contact your doctor.