Circadian Sleeping Syndrome

Commonly known as Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (DSPD) and other names, is a disorder in which the persons internal body clock is not in sync with the morning-rise evening-sleep pattern of the majority of people. Individuals with this disorder are not able to sleep and wake at the times that are regulated by normal work and school hours. They usually get enough sleep to keep them at a functional level through the day but not enough to be considered “well rested”. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests commonly ordered for some sleep disorders to determine the illness. The cause of Delayed Sleep Phase can include a variety of reasons; puberty being one of the main causes, but some people are born with the disorder. The short term and long term effects of this illness is unfortunate for a person’s overall health. Overall cures to this disorder have not been found yet. Doctors have suggested sleeping pills to help or other alternatives. The disorder affects the timing of sleep, peak period of alertness, the core body temperature rhythm, hormonal and other daily cycles.

To explain the control of biological rhythms by just referring to endogenous pacemakers such as the SCN is an example of biological reductionism. This is a limited approach as it is partial and does not take account of the interaction of endogenous pacemakers with exogenous zeitgeber. The psychologists assume that the damage to the SCN is the only causation of the disturbed sleep there is no consideration that the sleep-waking cycle could be a more complex mechanism. The SCN is connected to the pineal gland which could be the underlying cause of the disturbed sleep, due to the damage of the SCN this connection may mean that melatonin is no longer secreted efficiently. This would suggest that the SCN is only a factor within a larger pathway. Michel Siffre however did take into account the interaction of endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers.

Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder, short for Non-24, is a chronic circadian rhythm disorder that affects people that are completely blind. The circadian rhythms control the body clock and regulate sleep-wake cycle and various other cycles that are critical in the body. In most people, this body clock runs marginally longer than 24 hours. This means that rather than cycle on a 24-hour day, most people’s natural rhythms actually run a bit longer. Whether the cycle runs two minutes or 30 minutes longer, patients with Non-24 have these minutes add up day after day, few days adding to a few more the next. Eventually causing evident changes in one’s body. Their body’s circadian rhythm becomes out of sync from regular day and night cycle.

Sleep is commonly referred to as a global state, one which engages the entire nervous system. The states of sleep and wakefulness are highly interconnected and share common physiological mechanisms; however, there are distinct differences in the neurochemical pathways that underlie them. The notion that sleep is a global state is supported by evidence that the interrelated states of sleep and wakefulness engage a multitude of neuronal pathways and components. These networks of neuronal transmitters and receptors extend throughout the brain; from the brainstem to the basal forebrain, thalamus, hypothalamus, and cerebral cortex. The onset of sleep and wakefulness is known

normal counterparts. These findings have led to a robust exploration in the science of sleep

A misconception that people have regarding delayed sleep phase disorder is that as long as the human body retains six to eight hours of sleep per day, then they should be fully functional no matter when they fall asleep. However, after researching delayed sleep phase disorder, it was clear to see that this disorder affects a person’s social life more than their sleeping schedule. While they are asleep during the day, or during other hours that most of the general population actively socializes, the individuals with the disorder are lacking social involvement and instead trying to retain the recommended hours of sleep. This disorder can lead to fatigue, excessive sleepiness during the day, and disconnection from family and social life 3. Although the lack of social involvement is seen this disorder further affects the body internally such as manipulating the genes that work with the circadian rhythm this affecting the body’s processes, influence gene expression, make the immune system significantly weaker, and the glutamatergic process 1,2. Resetting the circadian clock is not an easy task, but there are possible techniques and treatments for patients with this disorder. The difficulty to reset the circadian clock is explained in a study 2 of people who suffer from neurological

Melatonin is a regulator of sleep wake cycles in all organisms. Furthermore, it is synthesised in the pineal gland and begins as an amino acid tryptophan. This amino acid is converted to serotonin and then metabolized into melatonin by the N-acetylation of 5-HT preceded with the addition of a methyl group at the hydroxyl position of the molecule via two enzymes called hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT) and N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) (Foulkes et al. 1997; Schomerus and Korf 2005). After those steps melatonin has been synthesised and will begin to affect the sleep wake cycle of the species.

Causes of this disorder are not well known except for the fact that the circadian clock within the “scn” or suprachiasmatic nucleus of the brain is thrown off, or shorter than normal. Unlike other sleep disorders, this one isn’t as common only affecting about 1% of adults. “Advanced sleep phase affects both genders equally, and has a strong genetic link. Studies on familial advanced sleep phase have shown that as many as 40 to 50% of people with a familial link to the disorder will themselves have it”

Delayed sleep phased syndrome (DSPS) is a disorder in which a person’s sleep is delayed by 2 or more hours greater than the socially acceptable or conventional bedtime. This article proves that this delay in falling asleep causes difficulty in waking up at the desired time. DSPS is a disorder that is linked to the Circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is a day and night cycle that helps to compel humans to remain awake during the day and sleep during the night. The article contained helpful tips for ameliorating a teenager’s sleep cycle back to normal. This piece of advice included getting up at the same time in the morning, avoid the computer and reduce bright light exposure 2 hours before bed, develop a bed time routine repeating the same

Sleep is a critical part of almost everyone’s daily life. Despite that, most people take it for granted and do not consider what might occur to them were they not able to have it; these people would be the envy of the families suffering from the genetic disorder of ‘Fatal Familial Insomnia’.

Sleep is defined as a complex and reversible condition where the body undergoes a period of unresponsiveness to external stimuli. Its main feature is the behavioral quiescence and the reduced unresponsiveness to stimulus on the exterior surfaces. Sleep is triggered and controlled by the central nervous system that uses networks of various neurotransmitters that are localized at a particular region in the brain. The neurotransmitters networks are redundant and any interference with a specific localized networks tampers with the sleep condition (Holtbernd, 2014). In spite the fact that sufficient proof on the functions of sleep is still unclear, it is unquestionable that sleep is a vital component in the development and normal functioning of

Origin of melatonin is estimated 2.5 billion years and perform the function of an antioxidant to detoxify the free radicals generated during the process of aerobic metabolism with the other functions of melatonin presumably being acquired during evolution (Tan et al. 2010, Tan et al. 2013). Melatonin is an important hormone which regulates the physiology (energy metabolism, reproduction, anticancer etc.) of an organism through environmental stimuli, including the biological clock in animals. The daily secretion pattern of melatonin is highly conserved among vertebrates; it is high during the night and low during the daytime. In this way, melatonin acts as the internal neurohormonal signal of darkness and plays a role as a “zeitgeber” (Falcon

Circadian rhythm disorders are interruption in a person’s circadian rhythm which an internal body clock that manage 24-hour cycle of biological growth in animals and plants. The main characteristic of circadian rhythm disorders is a repeated or occasional interruption of sleep patterns. The interruption results from either a failure in the internal body clock or a disparity between the internal body clock and the external environment concerning the period and duration of sleep. As a result of the circadian disparity, individuals may have disruption or interruption to the normal circadian rhythm which cause the patients to experience too much daytime sleepiness, insomnia or both of

The research article explains how there may be something that controls when you go to sleep and how long you are sleeping for. Your body has an internal clock that helps regulate when you sleep and wake up. This clock is called sleep-wake homeostasis. Homeostasis is comprised of three parts. There is a receiver that relays incoming senses, a central system that interprets the senses, and an effector that acts on the information relayed by the central system. The body’s internal clock induces sleep when one is awake for too long, so this experiment is specifically designed to find the method the body takes to induce sleep.

Ever wondered why we only fall into a state of deep rest at night rather than during the bustling hours of the day? Or why we even have a sleep cycle and we are able to maintain it? It is as a result of the pineal gland, a small gland in the brain releasing a hormone called melatonin. Melatonin is responsible for regulating our sleep pattern; it helps control what time we go to sleep and what time we wake up. Imagine what we would do if there was no way what so ever to control whether we sleep in the morning or at night. The world would be a confusing place. Thanks to the Endocrine system messages can be carried around the body to cause changes. The