Just as the world runs on a clock the human body runs on a biological clock. Much of the human body's biological processes run according to biological rhythms, also known as the circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm is a 24-hour cycle that controls biological behaviors like feeding, sleep patterns, and other mental and physical processes. These natural processes respond mostly to light and dark patterns and are essential for many biological processes.
Humans are also not the only organism that exhibit behaviors mediated by circadian clocks, the Drosophila melanogaster is also known to exhibit many behaviors under control of a 24-hour circadian clock. The article “Central and Peripheral Clock Control of Circadian Feeding Rhythms” (Fulgham et al.) researched how feeding patterns in Drosophila are controlled by circadian clocks. They found that feeding rhythms required a molecular clock function in the ventrolateral clock neurons of the central brain or the central clock as well as a peripheral clock in the peripheral metabolic tissue. Disruption to the central clock is already known to cause decreased feeding patterns but the study also disrupted the peripheral clock, with the central clock intact. Disruption to the peripheral clock also resulted in decreased feeding patterns exhibiting that the peripheral clocks also play a role in the regulation of food intake. Overall, the study shows the importance of different circadian clocks on feeding patterns. Exhibiting how big of a role circadian timing plays on different biological processes. Knowing the role circadian rhythm plays in regulating biological processes it would be interesting to see how disruption to circadian clocks plays a role in the lives and health of humans.
The article “Shift Work: Disrupted Circadian Rhythms and Sleep—Implications for Health and Well-Being” (James et a.) researches just that. The article focuses on shift work a concept that is common in the workforce today, especially in the healthcare industry. Hospitals and clinics in the healthcare industry are required to be available 24/7 and therefore require to be staffed 24/7 as well. Though knowing circadian clocks run on a 24-hour cycle, responding to mostly light and dark patterns, how are the health of workers affected who work long hours and, in the nighttime, rather than the day. According to the article, the human circadian process works where it produces the most alertness in the daytime and the least alertness in the nighttime. Opposing the natural biological rhythm leads to shortened and disrupted sleep as well as low alertness when awake. This not only makes you at greater risk of accidents and injuries when awake but throws off your sleep patterns which can negatively impact the overall health of workers. The paper researched both short-term and long-term effects on the physical and mental health of humans from shift work which resulted in disrupted sleep/wake cycle. There are many specific short-term and long-term effects all of which are correlated to negatively impact the health and biological processes of workers.
Overall, our body just like the world is run by a biological clock and it is important to follow it. Many biological processes like feeding and sleep are controlled by this clock. Throwing off the sleep/wake cycle when working nightshifts will affect other biological processes. Even seen with Drosophila disrupting the circadian clock resulted in decreased feeding patterns showing circadian clocks play an important role in regulating our biological process. Therefore, it is important to realize how our bodies' clocks and rhythms can be affected by our schedules and actions.
References
Fulgham C, Dreyer A, Nasseri A, Miller AN, Love J, Martin MM, Jabr D, Saurabh S, Cavanaugh D. “Central and Peripheral Clock Control of Circadian Feeding Rhythms”. J Biol Rhythms. 2021
James, Stephen M et al. “Shift Work: Disrupted Circadian Rhythms and Sleep-Implications for Health and Well-Being.” Current sleep medicine reports vol. 3,2 (2017): 104-112. doi:10.1007/s40675-017-0071-6
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