Circadian rhythm - the internal cycles that keep you going
Complex mechanisms in our body dictate our 24-hour sleep/wake clocks
Circadian rhythm - the internal cycles that keep you going
We all have likely heard of melatonin - sometimes sold as a dietary supplement that millions of people in the U.S. alone use as a sleep aid. But did you know that it is in fact a hormone which our bodies produce naturally to control our sleep-wake cycle? And it is not just about sleep. In fact, we have multiple internally driven 24-hour physical, mental and behavioral circadian cycles that rise and fall throughout the day and control not only our sleep but also our:
Hormonal activity & metabolism
Body temperature
Immune system
DNA repair
These rhythms rise and fall throughout the day and are controlled by one main internal Circadian Clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in our hypothalamus which acts as sort of a pacemaker. It is important to maintain healthy circadian rhythms in order to avoid developing Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders (CRSWD).
The name Circadian comes from Latin ‘circa diem’ which means ‘around a day’. These rhythms were first observed in the 18th century by a French astronomer Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan in a mimosa plant. That’s right, the 24-hour internal cycles do not exist only in humans, but are also common in other animals and even plants, many of which will open their flowers during the day and close them at night. Chronobiology, the study of effects of time on biological systems, has long been investigating the underlying mechanisms of these processes to understand the consequences of disruption of our circadian rhythms.
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