Adequate sleep is essential to one's overall health. The body needs sleep to rest both the mind and body and restore energy. Sleep is also the time where the body repairs itself—through sleep, the cells and tissues that has been damaged repairs itself. In addition to these health benefits, the body boosts and builds up the immune system through sleep. The immune system may experience breakdown and result to different ailments that would require medication and extended recovery times. Medical studies show that sleep seems to help recharge the immune system. However, there are many factors that may hinder individuals to have adequate sleep and therefore further hamper health developments. Disruptions on one's circadian rhythm is one factor that may hinder quality of sleep.
Circadian Rhythm
Disorders (CRD) are disruptions in a person's circadian rhythm—a name given to
the human body's internal body clock. This body clock regulates the 24-hour
cycle of biological processes in animals and plants. The circadian “clock” in
humans is located in the brain and are significant in determining one's
sleeping patterns. Disruptions of the circadian rhythm may result in getting
poor and insufficient sleep. One disruption in natural sleep conditions is
night work or non-standard shifts. Working in the evening require a delay in
the body's sleeping time of as much as three to 12 hours. Because the human
body is programmed to sleep at night, changing one's sleeping time will not
automatically produce a change in body temperature or other functions needed
like body coordination and immune responses.
Another factor that
may disrupt sleep and hamper one's sleeping patterns is a condition called jet
lag. It a condition that is marked by fatigue, insomnia, and irritability that
is caused by changing time zones when traveling by air. When travellers pass
from one time zone to another, they may suffer from disrupted circadian
rhythms. This may cause the traveller’s circadian clock to be mixed up with a
new external environment. People who experience jet lag may have difficulties
in maintaining their regular sleep-awake pattern in their new location. This
happens because external stimuli like sunlight and location programs dictate a
new pattern.
Although generally
linked to sleep pattern of human beings, the circadian rhythm also has a direct
influence on one's blood pressure, and the body's production of hormones and
neurotransmitters. It works together with these internal factors to tell the
body of several things like sleeping time and wake up time. These factors are
warning that such disruptions in one's circadian rhythms should never be taken
for granted.
Because modern
technology and medicine CRD can be treated based on the kind of disorder that
is present. Treatments vary depending on the demands of lifestyles of certain
individuals. Therapies are usually combined with sleep hygiene techniques to
promote proper sleep from CRD. Chronotherapy and bright light therapy are two
methods that are used to treat this disorder. Chronotherapy is a behavioural
technique where one's bedtime is gradually and systematically adjusted until a
specific bedtime is achieved. Bright light therapy on the other hand is
designed to reset an individual's circadian rhythm to a desired pattern. When
properly utilized, these therapies may produce essential results in eliminating
CRD and improve one's quality of sleep.
Disclaimer:
This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to
be a medical advice and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice.
Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Follow any tip given in
this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for
any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.
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