WSJ looks at growing field of chronobiology

Your circadian rhythm is turning out to be more important than you might have thought. The Wall Street Journal’s Melinda Beck recently wrote about chronobiology, the emerging study of the body’s internal rhythms that regulate cognitive abilities, your mood on a given day, and various other functions. 

 

Among some of the findings that scientists looking into chronobiology have reported are the typical timings of common health issues. For instance, Beck points to a study that found tourists who have heart attacks in Hawaii tended to have them at a time their body knows as early morning, regardless of local time. Like heart attacks, strokes usually take place in the morning, potentially the result of increased production PAI-1, which aids in blood clotting. 

 

Another study conducted by the Medical Chronobiology Program at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that health issues can occur when the body’s rhythms and behavior don’t correspond. Rats who ate when they typically sleep ended up gaining more weight than those who were fed at normal times. Beck highlights that shift workers whose circadian rhythm don’t correspond with their daily activities will have similar issues—she points to higher obesity, stroke, and other rates among shift workers. Those with mental health issues like bipolar disorder might even be able to point do dysfunction in genes that regulate the body’s internal clock. 

 

A new field—chronotherapy—is emerging as a way to combat the difficulties faced by those whose circadian rhythms and daily activities are out of sync. Though clinical trials still need to be conducted, some solutions might be as easy as taking an acid blocker at night, when stomach acid production increases. All of these, though, are just management, as the best solution seems to be settling into a routine of sleeping, eating and waking at the same time every day.