The Circadian Rhythm and its Disorders: Learn from an Austin sleep specialist
You circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour biological rhythm you can think of as an internal clock. It impacts your sleep-wake cycle as well as numerous other biological processes. Some people have difficulty when their circadian rhythm doesn’t match the demands of their life. There are solutions for this! Reach out today to schedule a free consult with a sleep specialist in Austin.
Circadian rhythms are one of several biological rhythms in humans.
The word circadian is derived from the Latin circa (about) + dies (day). This rhythm takes approximately 24 hours to complete one full cycle. Body processes related to this rhythm include (but are not limited to) your sleep-wake cycle, body temperature, and melatonin production.
Every known living organism has a circadian rhythm.
Every cell in your body follows a circadian rhythm. The master clock is in your brain and it’s called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN.) The SCN syncs up the circadian rhythms of all the cells in your body.
But internal synchronization is only half the story.
You also have to match up your internal circadian rhythm with your life’s demands. When your propensity to sleep and wake come at “inconvenient” times, problems ensue!
A typical adult will fall asleep somewhere between 10-11 pm and wake up some time between 6-7 am.
There are people who lean 1-2 hours earlier. We call them larks and they are still considered normal. Some people lean 1-2 hours later. We call them owls and they are also considered normal.
Then there are people whose time of falling asleep and waking up fall so far outside the norm that it causes problems in their life. It then becomes a disorder.
People with Delayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder (DSWPD) can fall anywhere from 2-6 hours later than the 11p-7a sleep window. Left to their own devices, these people will fall asleep between 2am-6am and wake between 10am-1pm.
People with Advanced Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder (ASWPD) fall 2-6 hours earlier than the 11p-7a sleep window. Left to their own devices, they will fall asleep between 6pm-9pm and wake up without an alarm between 2-5 am.
Circadian rhythm naturally shifts with age. Babies don’t have much of a circadian rhythm. The sleep phase consolidates over the first years of life such that by age 10 a child will sleep in one big, long block. The block shortens with the transition into adolescence and shifts later through older adolescence-young adulthood. Then it moves earlier again as someone ages.
As a sleep specialist in Austin, many people come to my (virtual) door with complaints of insomnia or hypersomnia.
It’s always in the back of my mind to assess for a circadian rhythm issue. There are several circadian rhythm disorders but I am going to focus on Delayed Sleep Phase and Advanced Sleep Phase.
As mentioned above, people with Delayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder will sleep best if they go to bed and get out of bed significantly later than what is conventional.
When you have a circadian rhythm disorder, the clock can become the enemy. Reach out today to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation with a sleep specialist in Austin who knows how to diagnose and treat circadian rhythm disorders.
It isn’t inherently bad to stay up late and sleep late. Some delayed folks choose to build their lives around their preferred sleep schedule and choose evening or night-shift jobs. But it is possible to shift someone earlier using properly timed light exposure and melatonin. It’s possible to have BOTH insomnia and delayed sleep phase and both have pretty clear treatment protocols. I can assess for and treat both of these issues.
Advanced Sleep Phase is characterized by early morning awakenings, difficulty maintaining sleep, and sleepiness in the afternoon and early evening.
However, for these folks, current treatment guidelines per the American Academy of Sleep Medicine only weakly recommend light and do not recommend melatonin at all. The best approach here is to try to schedule your life around your sleep pattern.