What Is Circadian Rhythm?

All living being on the Earth including animals, plants etc. are tuned into the cycle of day and night. We are in total sync with nature’s rhythm of light and dark or activity and rest. We function well if our internal biological clock is adjusted to nature’s clock. The sun rises in the morning to mark the onset of the day or activity which peaks in the noon and subsequently decline in strength towards the latter half of the day. Our bodies typically behave in a similar manner. We get up in the morning to start the day, our body temperature and metabolism picks up as the day progresses and gradually decline, so are our energy levels and productivity towards the end of the day. To meet this rhythm of activity and rest, our bodies’ produce corresponding hormones called cortisol and melatonin respectively.

Circadian Rhythm

Cortisol is an arousal hormone, synthesized from cholesterol and produced in the adrenal gland. The release of cortisol is controlled by the central clock situated in the brain in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus. Cortisol is the primary hormone responsible for the stress response. Expressed at the highest levels in the early morning, cortisol’s main function is to restore homeostasis following exposure to stress. Under normal circumstances, the human body produces a predictable day–night pattern of cortisol secretion. Normal diurnal variation in cortisol secretion produces higher cortisol levels in the daytime (for activity) and lower levels at night (for rest). Similarly, melatonin, the sleep hormone is released in the night. The daily fluctuations of the hormones contribute to the rhythm called circadian rhythm. This rhythm appears to be important in regulating and coordinating internal metabolic processes. 

Anybody travelling by air route from one continent to another in different time zone will experience a temporary disruption of circadian rhythm called jet lag which results in fatigue, disorientation, and sleep disturbance. It takes several hours or even days for the body to adjust to this sudden change but eventually body recovers and again get tuned to the local cycle.

Chronic elevation of cortisol can result in disruption of circadian rhythms.  Cortisol is a hormone that is associated with psychological and physical stress, inflammation, and sleep dysfunction in humans. High levels of cortisol can contribute to a multitude of adverse health conditions such as sleep disorders, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, stroke, impaired immune response, mood disturbances, decreased bone density, and abnormal glucose levels. Neurologic effects of chronically elevated cortisol secretion include chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system leading to hypertension and cardiovascular disease. 

Is Stress A Routine Affair In Your Life?

Stress seems to be a part of modern day living especially in the metropolis. We might not be aware but every day stresses of fast-paced life can have a detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing. Ironically, you might not be aware that you are under stress because it has become a routine affair.

Everybody experience a stressful event in their lifetime. We all face stress-causing situations and circumstances in our life. Humans are designed to experience stress and react to it. You can experience stress from your environment, your body, and your thoughts. These stressors may stem from daily events such as getting stuck in a traffic; not able to get up on time; professional demands of meeting deadlines; long working hours; office politics; health issues or may be encountered as a life-changing event such as divorce; bereavement; financial crisis etc. Different people react differently to stress, the way people react or cope with stress has a lot to do with how they are educated or directed to sail through under such circumstances in their formative years.

Stress can affect all the aspects of your life including your behaviour, emotions, thinking ability, and overall physical health. Acute stress does no harm as long as you recover from it and move on in life. It is the daily regular dose of stressors which you should be more concerned with.  

Body’s response to acute stress

An acute stressful event which is perceived as a threat will throw your entire system in a tizzy. The heightened alert state you experience is brought on by the release of certain biochemicals called stress hormones. Cortisol, catecholamines, and neuropeptides are such hormones produced by the body. This is a body’s reaction to help you cope with the situation at hand. You react as per your instinct to either fight or flight, making proper use of these hormones.  This adaptive response to stress is beneficial in the short term. However long-term or repetitive production of such hormones can adversely affect the entire body and predispose to more illnesses, chronic disease, and tissue damage.

Role of Cortisol, the stress hormone

Cortisol is produced in the adrenal cortex and is also called an arousal hormone. The adrenal gland under normal circumstances produces a predictable day–night pattern of cortisol secretion. This diurnal variation in cortisol secretion producing higher cortisol levels in the daytime (for activity) and lower levels at night (for rest) contribute to the body’s circadian rhythm. Cortisol is the primary hormone responsible for the stress response. The effects of cortisol are felt over virtually the entire body and impact several homeostatic mechanisms. While cortisol’s primary targets are metabolic, it also affects ion transport, the immune response, and even memory. Chronically elevated cortisol is a biomarker for stress and is associated with many chronic diseases. The endocrine, gastrointestinal, immune, and neurologic systems are most subject to chronic stress.

So, watch out for chronic stress as long-term stress can build up slowly over a period of time to suddenly surface as an organ specific disease such as type 2 diabetes, thyroid problem, gastric troubles, cardiac condition and so on. Of course, there are many factors at play to initiate this imbalance but stress seems to be one of the important factors implied in many chronic diseases of aging.

Can't Sleep? Common Causes Of Insomnia

The human body can function optimally if along with the other basic fundamental needs such as clean air, water, and food you allow yourself adequate good nights’ sleep. During sleep body rests and recover from the stresses of the day. Lack of sleep or disturbed sleep interferes with this recovery process thereby, making you susceptible to a wide variety of stress-related health issues.

Everybody experiences sleep disturbances at some point in their lifetime. Hectic schedule, personal or professional duties may drive anybody to have sleepless nights. But, be wary of these occasional sleep troubles becoming a routine affair. 

We know that disturbed sleep even for a single night can bring about certain biochemical changes in the body to significantly affect the cognitive and physical functioning thereby resulting in a wide range of impaired daytime functions across emotional, social, and physical domains. Compared with good sleepers, people with persistent sleep troubles are more prone to accidents, decreased quality of life, have higher rates of work absenteeism, and increased health care utilization.

Insomnia causes would differ from person to person depending upon the variety of factors like lifestyle, concomitant medical conditions, and life situations they are subjected to, but here are the :

• Stress and worry, as well as mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, can interfere with sleep. The relationship between sleep and depressive illness is complex, depression may cause sleep problems and sleep troubles may contribute to depressive disorders. Abundance of research indicates that people who experience disrupted sleep are more likely to develop depression and other psychiatric disorders. 
• Chronic pain -- Pain can make it hard to get to sleep. It’s estimated that 50-80% of chronic pain patients report sleep disturbances. Severe pain associated with arthritis, fibromyalgia, and gout can keep people awake and other painful conditions like back pain, headaches, menstrual cramps can significantly compromise the normal sleep.
• Chronic health conditions such as cardiac failure, thyroid problem, renal disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may have associated insomnia. Moreover, long-term use of certain medications like thyroid preparations, corticosteroids, antidepressants, blood pressure medications, stimulant medicines for ADHD can cause insomnia as a side effect.
•  Shift workers who work outside traditional 9 to 5 day time work hours; frequent Travellers who travel in different time zones; and any schedule change that keeps the person up too long is likely to impair the normal biological circadian rhythm. Impaired circadian rhythm is clearly associated with abnormal cortisol secretion profiles. Chronically elevated cortisol is a biomarker for stress and is associated with many chronic diseases of the modern day.
• Excessive use of common stimulants like caffeine, nicotine, and recreational drugs may hinder the normal sleep pattern. 

     Be cautious, make wise lifestyle choices, be physically and socially active, seek help to address the stress and last not but not the least sleep well to avoid getting caught in the vicious cycle of sleeplessness and high stress.

Sleep well...

5 Reasons Why You Should Not Compromise On Sleep

Deep Sleep Heals

We all feel better after a good night's sleep. Sleep is a state of tranquillity, a great mean to escape the stresses of the day. Lack of sleep or chronic insomnia is a major public health problem and affects about 30% of the general population. The impact of insomnia on the health and well-being of insomniacs results in lost productivity and increased cost to society.

Lack of sleep on the chronic basis can bring about various mental and physiological imbalances in the body. In the beginning, these subtle physiological changes might go unnoticed but in the long run, they set the stage for the serious health issues. You have all the reasons not to fall prey to chronic insomnia, here are your 5:

1. Sleep deprivation increases stress levels -- Under stressful conditions, your body produces substances such as cortisol and catecholamine to help you cope with the situation at hand. You react as per your instinct to either fight or flight, making proper use of these chemicals. However, long-term or repetitive production of such substances can adversely affect the entire body.
2. Sleep deprivation increases the chance of depression -- People with insomnia are more likely to have clinically significant depression and anxiety. The relationship between sleep and depressive illness is complex. There is mounting evidence that people who experience disrupted sleep, are at dramatically elevated risk for depression and other psychiatric disorders. Remission of depression cannot be fully achieved until the associated insomnia and daytime sleepiness are resolved.
3.  Insomnia impairs brain function – The brain removes toxic proteins from its neurons that are by-products of neural activity when you are awake. But, it can remove them adequately only while you are asleep, so the lack of sleep can lead to the toxic proteins remain in the brain cells, impairing the ability to think,  process information, impairs short-term and long-term memory, ability to focus and decision-making, and catapults the stress levels and emotional reactivity.
4. Sleep deprivation can make you age faster – Cortisol, the stress hormone when in excess can also make you look older because it breaks down skin collagen, the protein that keeps skin smooth and elastic.
5. Sleep deprivation can lead to overweight and obesity -- Not getting enough good-quality sleep could increase your risk of  obesity and other metabolic disorders. Sleep deprivation makes you hungrier by increasing the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin and at the same time reducing the levels of the satiety-inducing hormone leptin. Various studies indicate that people who sleep less than six hours a night are 30 percent more likely to become obese than those who sleep seven to nine hours a night. 

         To your good sleep...