Circadian Rhythms Essay -- essays research papers

Tomas Izquierdo has not slept since 1945. Due to an attack of encephalitis, an inner sensation inflammation, his ability to dismount a remainder was lost at the age of 13. Although he rests with his eyes closed, his principal patterns ar those of fewone who is fully awake and aware. He has memory problems and rattling sensitive eyes, just now is otherwise only normal. To relax, he usually uses enigmatical meditation from about three or four AM until the morn (Coleman 94).Tomas Izquierdo is what one might call someone without circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are the casual relaxation patterns of humans. Circadian rhythms tell people when they are closely alert, when they feel tired, and when they should wake up. These circadian rhythms, while awkward to research, are burning(prenominal) to many industries, as well as a multitude of sleep disorder patients. For several years, scientists and doctors have been seeking a greater intelligence of these patterns through c onstant, difficult, and fast paced research. The applications of such knowledge would be quite near in shift based industries as well as some special circumstances. As of yet, doctors have been able to determine a few important correlations between internal quantify cues and sleep, activities or events that give cues to the school principal about what time it is or should be. However, the research is very difficult.Researching sleep is difficult for a variety of reasons. The first reason for difficulty is the nature of experimentation. To actually isolate the sleep patterns, all time-giving cues, or zietgebers, have to be eliminated. Light, electromagnetic waves, the schedules of researchers, and even the growth of a facial hair on outsiders whitethorn lead the subject to guess the time of day. The body can witness even the faintest cues of time, so it is incredibly important that the subject be completely shut off from time giving cues. If the subject of the research knows the time of day, he or she may adjust accordingly, skewing results and making it all but impossible to collect the data needed.Another reason for the difficulty of sleep research is the pace of discovery. The field moves too fast for its own good. As a result, no comprehensive beginners text is getable in the field of circadian rhythms. By the time... ... a part of their brain known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN, gets smaller. The SCN is the primary pacemaker for most circadian functions in the brain. It is responsible for the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. As the SCN decreases in size, less melatonin is produced, causing a shift in sleep patterns. The land in melatonin, just as in SAD patients, can caseful restlessness. In order to counteract this melatonin loss, many of the elderly sit in front of light boxes, just like the SAD patients, at the finis of the day for a few hours (Center for Biological).Circadian rhythms are part of the daily lives of humans. T hey cue our levels of alertness, our need for sleep, and our time of waking. To better understand these rhythms, scientists from around the eyeball have participated in difficult research for years. As of yet, the research shows that light, hormones, exercise, age, and a variety of other factors are important in determining circadian rhythms. Perhaps in the future, scientists will be able to manipulate circadian rhythms so that people no longer feel fatigue. By then, mayhap Tomas Izquierdo could finally get some long overdue sleep.