Circadian rhythm disorders: causes, symptoms and effects.

Several problems associated with the lack of sleep schedules.

If you are one of those people who have problems when it comes to "sleeping when it is time", you might want to know what are the circadian cycle disorders.

The importance of a good night's sleep for our health has been known for a long time. However, the time at which we enter a sleep state is not decided by us: it is a matter of the so-called circadian rhythmsThese are the oscillations in our body's Biological functions that regulate the intervals between when we sleep and when we are awake. Disturbances in these oscillations can lead to circadian rhythm disorders, which have a very negative impact on our quality of life, so it is worth knowing what mechanisms are behind them.

But first, we need to have a good understanding of the concept of homeostasis.

What is homeostasis?

The rhythm of sleep obeys a property called homeostasis, which is the way in which organisms try to maintain the biochemical balance between all its parts in order for the whole to function well.. One way to easily understand what homeostasis consists of is to think about what happens when we run: at the beginning, the body extracts the energy necessary to keep the muscles working by "burning" the sugar available in the blood, but after a few minutes this begins to run low, so, in order not to fall into an imbalance, our body begins to use stored fat as fuel.

The same happens with the circadian rhythm, which also works based on a logic of homeostasis balances. If we have slept a lot the night before, we will not feel sleepy until after midnight that day, but if we have slept almost nothing, we will want to go to sleep soon after dinner.

What are circadian rhythm disorders?

Of course, the schedules that people dedicate to sleep are not created spontaneously independently of the organism's environment; it adapts in such a way that wakefulness tends to coincide with the hours when there is more light, and sleep occurs during the night. Therefore, the simple fact of keeping our eyes close to a source of artificial light just before going to sleep delays the onset of sleep.

Since the time we spend sleeping is homeostatically regulated, it is fine if our schedules are occasionally affected by abnormalities: During the following hours, this "lag" is regulated and returns to normal.. But if the jet lag in our sleeping hours is maintained for a long time, then we are talking about a circadian rhythm disorder.

Symptoms of circadian rhythm disorders

Circadian rhythm disorders appear when there is a mismatch between the times when we are sleepy (or not sleepy) and the periods of onset of day and night, which also correspond to socially agreed-upon schedules.

Thus, a person with circadian rhythm disorders may sleep well, but will do so when it is "not the time" to sleep.. The consequences of this usually result in a lack of sleep in the wee hours of the morning and, at the same time, in the appearance of sleepiness during the day. The latter are the two basic symptoms of these disorders, and at the same time shape the types of circadian cycle disorders.

On the one hand, there is the disorder in which the sleep schedule is advanced, reaching early the time when the urge to sleep appears and when one wakes up. Another type of circadian cycle disorder is one in which sleep is delayed, so that one is unable to sleep until the wee hours of the morning and experiences a lack of sleep if work or study schedules force one to wake up in the morning. A third type would be a chaotic mixture of the previous two.

However, it should be borne in mind that the diagnosis should be made by a specialist who offers personalized treatment..

Possible causes of these sleep disturbances

Among the possible causes that explain the appearance of circadian rhythm disorders there are basically two:

1. Biological factors.

These are structural or biochemical alterations in parts of the brain. involved in the regulation of sleep, such as the hypothalamus.

2. Factors linked to interaction with the environment

These causes have to do with the environment and the people with whom the individual interacts.. For example, starting to work night shifts in a warehouse can cause problems in this regard, or getting used to using the cell phone in bed and with the lights off.

Treatment of circadian rhythm disorders

The way to intervene in this spectrum of disorders is based on two actions: advancing or delaying the onset of sleep and advancing or delaying the time of awakening.. For this purpose, it is customary to use oral administration of melatonin, a substance that is also produced by the human body to regulate the circadian rhythm and whose presence at relatively high levels is linked to the onset of sleep, and exposure to light, which serves to delay the onset of sleep.

Both tools should be used on a sustained basis under professional supervision, and a single session is not enough, since the objective is to modify a habit that by definition is persistent..