Circadian Rhythm is important in many areas of life. It's what makes working night shift so difficult and debilitating. People who suffer from delayed or advanced sleep phase syndrome are well aware of the havoc circadian rhythm cycles can cause. Another sleep disorder that involved the circadian rhythm is seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.).
With spring here, can summer be far behind? And, along with summer, come plans for summer vacation. If you are contemplating any long distance travel, from one side of the country to the other, or across the ocean, your circadian rhythm may intervene to make life a bit miserable for you.
Jet lag is caused when someone travels across several Time Zones quickly, as in a jet. Suddenly night and day are reversed, and your body's rhythm just isn't ready to cope with it. For several days, you may feel tired, disoriented and generally unwell. Your stomach is upset, your muscles may ache, and you find it impossible to sleep.
Ongoing research into circadian rhythm and the biological clock has produced much that is new over the past four years. In May of 1998, the Aerospace Medical Association presented medical guidelines for airline travel. Although they were intended for people with illnesses and disorders, much of it pertained to everyone.
In these guidelines, Dr. Russell B. Rayman, executive vice president of the Association, stated: "It can start with anxiety about the trip, walking through the airport, finding the gate.
"During the flight itself, there is the impact of the changing barometric pressure in the plane, the lower oxygen level, crowding and confinement in the seat, the vibration and noise of the cabin and jet lag and fatigue.
"You put all of this together and even normal people are affected," Rayman said. "There is no rigid approach to these problems."
Sleep starts to deteriorate during middle age, not old age, as formerly believed. This is due to changes in the biological clock and means middle aged people become less able to work shifts or handle jet lag.
In August 1998, the Dartmouth Medical School discovered new clues to what makes cells tick.
"Biological clocks are the cellular basis of the commonly known circadian rhythms that determine many of our body's functions, including when we go to sleep and wake up. Slow resetting by the clock is the underlying cause of jet lag, and clock malfunction has been linked to seasonal affective disorder and various sleep and mental disorders," explain researchers Jay Dunlap, PhD, professor of biochemistry, and Jennifer Loros, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry.
They discovered that the two proteins known to play a role in light regulation are also essential to the circadian clock. They also discovered that all circadian clocks share common characteristics including their 24-hour light-dark cycle.
In November 1998, researchers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill discovered a new light-sensitive pigment in the eye, the skin and part of the brain responsible for the body's internal clock.Their work could lead to finding better treatment for depression and jet lag as well as ways to improve working conditions for those on night shift.
