Just Can’t Stay Awake Past 8 p.m.? Don’t Worry, It’s Not Your Fault

Scientists have identified a gene associated with sleep rhythms. According to an article at Science Daily,

…such insight into the factors influencing people’s so-called circadian, or daily, rhythm might lead to therapies that could adjust the body’s clock in those suffering from conditions including jet lag or shift work sleep disorder, according to the researchers.

“This study highlights the power of natural human mutations to uncover things [about the circadian clock] that we might not otherwise have learned, or that we might have misunderstood before,” said Howard Hughes Investigator Louis Ptácek, of the University of California, San Francisco.

Whether you’re a night owl or an early bird, the trick is working with your personal body clock. Says Katie Gilbert in the Psychology Today article “Your Personal Time Zone,” “The best way to make your inner clock work for you? Don’t fight it.”

Here are some resources to help you learn more about your internal timekeeper:

• The Body Clock Guide to Better Health
• The Time of Our Lives
• Insomnia: reset your inner clock and get back to sleep

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King