View clinical trials related to Circadian Rhythm Disorders.
Filter by:Circadian clocks are not only found in discrete areas of the brain, but are found in virtually every organ in our bodies, including the heart, lungs and immune system. Disruptions in circadian clocks, or chronopathology, may underlie various forms of cardiovascular, pulmonary, and metabolic disorders. Over the past two decades, molecular geneticists have "cracked" the clock to reveal its core biochemical mechanisms evident in organisms from fruit flies to humans. These mechanistic insights have led to the discovery of links between clock function and an ever-expanding array of prevalent diseases, including heart, lung, metabolic and sleep disorders. Yet the prevalence of circadian disruption in these patient populations is unclear because current tests are not easily applied in clinical settings or have yet to be developed. Here the investigators exploit our newfound understanding of clock mechanisms and the development of new genomic technologies to identify novel complements of clock-regulated genes ("signatures") that will reveal the state of the internal biological clock. This approach will allow us to take a genomic snapshot of clock status from a single blood draw, substantially easing the diagnosis of these individuals with evidence of circadian disruption or misalignment, i.e., chronopathology.
The mammalian eye serves both visual and non-image-forming functions. New information about the non-image-forming anatomy and physiology of the eye has revealed effects of ocular light stimuli on human circadian rhythms, melatonin suppression, heart rate, pupillary reflexes, cognitive performance, alertness and sleep. The results of the proposed work can be used to make predictions about the effects of light, to make recommendations involving exposure to or avoidance of light, and to design environmental lighting, resulting in improved health and alertness and decreased errors and accidents.
Circadian rhythm disorders are a class of sleep disorders characterized by misalignment between the timing of sleep and the timing of rhythms driven by the biological clock. Light therapy can effectively treat these disorders, but the intensity and duration of light exposure required to do so has limited its practical use. In this study the investigators will test whether pre-exposure to dim light may enhance the response of the circadian system to light therapy. If so, this could result in shorter treatments that would have greater practical applications.
The purpose of this study is to investigate circadian disturbances after breast cancer surgery by means of monitoring sleep and heart-rate variability, by measuring a metabolite of melatonin in urine and by questionnaires and a sleep-diary.