Circadian Rythm
Believe it or not, we all run on internal timers! The biological clock that exists inside every human being is known as the suprachiasmatic nuclei. Located in the hypothalamus above the optic nerve, the SCN is a pair of structures containing 20,000 neurons that receive signals inside the brain. These signals are caused by outside influences, referred to as "zeitgebers", like light and temperature. When signals are sent to the brain through these outside influences, our brain responds by triggering physiological responses, which tell our brain to make changes. Autonomical changes that occur within the body are variations in temperature, hormone secretion, digestive activity, heart rate, blood pressure, pain thresholds and other biological functions.
This 24-hour cycle of activity is known as a Circadian Rhythm. This term comes from Latin, meaning "around a day". The human body has a daily rhythm of activity, ranging from hunger to sleepiness, and when the regular Circadian cycle of daily routine is interrupted, disorders may occur.
Some types of disturbances in the Circadian Rhythm include:
Shift Work Syndrome-when our work schedules conflict with our cycle natural body rhythm. Many individuals have to work awkward shifts to make ends meet, and sometimes that can have an adverse affect on their health.
Seasonal Affective Disorder-when the change in the length of the day disturbs a person's natural rythm
Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome-when our internal body clock is set earlier or later than we want it to be. For example, when a person gets older, and they tend to find themselves falling asleep much earlier and as a result waking up much earlier than they would like to.
Jet Lag-when our body's natural rhythm becomes out of sync with the time in a specific location or environment
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome-when the internal clock does not function according to a day/night schedule, it makes it difficult to fall asleep and maintain sound sleep.
Some treatments include the use of innovative techniques, such as exposure to bright light at specific times to help reset the Circadian clock. Others use sleep restriction under the supervision of sleep disorder specialist to reset the body's clock. Sleep restriction is when a person goes to bed much later than they normally would, and sleeps only as long as they are able to. Once awake, they are made to get up out of bed, sometimes only sleeping three or four hours. After a week of restriction, the person goes to sleep 15 minutes earlier each night, slowly resetting their internal clocks until they rediscover their natural circadian rythms.
Less dramatic forms of treatment are over-the-counter drugs, like Sleepatil™, that take a natural approach to sleep therapy. Sleepatil™ contains melatonin, which happens to be a naturally occurring internal factor that affects the body's circadian clock. Melatonin has been shown to shift biological rythms according to its day/night function, which peaks during the darkest hours of the day.
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