Topic > The Circadian Rhythm: Health Implications

While many associate the term “circadian rhythm” primarily with sleep cycles and determining whether you are a “morning or night person,” the circadian rhythm is much more than that. The circadian rhythm is essentially the body's natural internal clock, which determines and regulates physiological processes. A disrupted circadian rhythm can be considered when a person's circadian rhythm does not reflect the society's circadian rhythm standard, or; one's natural circadian rhythm is disrupted (Hines, J., 2018). The difference between the two essentially lies in the standard for comparing one's circadian rhythm. With the former, the standard is set against others and society as a whole. With the latter, the standard is against oneself and what someone's individual baseline is, whether or not they follow social standards. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay With the former, people may experience different eating and sleeping habits than most in society, such as sleeping later or earlier than others. On the contrary, with the latter, the standard of disturbance of people is only within themselves, for example, sleeping earlier than is normal for themselves. When the circadian rhythm is disrupted (for example by daylight), people can experience adverse health effects (Psychology Today, n.d.) because many natural biological processes are controlled by it. Additionally, the effects of many diseases can be exacerbated by disrupted circadian rhythms. One implication of this is timing with medications; many medications may be more effective in managing illnesses and symptoms if they are taken at certain times, however, the times at which patients are told to take their medications may not align with their individual circadian timing (Paul, M. 2018) . The most obvious health effects of a disrupted circadian rhythm are sleep disorders, such as shift work sleep disorder and delayed sleep phase syndrome. Recently, researchers at Northwestern University recently developed a blood test, TimeSignature, that can accurately identify the natural time reflected by our body clocks. The blood test has the potential to help with numerous health problems influenced primarily by the circadian rhythm, from identifying the optimal time to take a medication, to determining the accuracy of diagnoses of cognitive disorders (Paul, M. 2018). Ultimately, and more generally, the test provides greater accessibility to understanding one's personal health and well-being. With this tool, further research can be conducted to determine potential correlations between diseases and biological timing, which can be extrapolated to predict the likelihood of contracting a disease and potentially predict when people will become ill (Paul, M, 2018). Research has been conducted to examine whether circadian rhythms can be effectively modified, which may reduce risk factors for certain diseases. Knowing that there are many negative health effects associated with disrupted or irregular circadian rhythms, society should make significant changes to improve overall health. However, it is not reasonable to make such changes as changing shifts, eliminating night shifts, or requiring doctors to determine patients' individual circadian rhythms before scheduling surgery or prescribing a medication. As the world progresses, irregular working hours, shift work and irregular sleeping patterns have become.