Note: I am honored to be appointed to the NIH's Sleep Disorder Research Advisory Board (SDRAB) to represent the circadian rhythm disorder (CRD) patient community. I wrote the following article for the Circadian Sleep Disorders Network:
In December, CSD-N board member Alexandra Wharton virtually attended the NIH (U.S. National Institutes of Health) Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board (SDRAB) meeting. This is the second consecutive term that a CSD-N board member is representing the CRD patient community on SDRAB.
Circadian rhythms regulate essential functions such as hormone release, body temperature, sleep, metabolism and digestion. Several of the meeting's presentations discussed how circadian dysregulation can cause various health ailments including poor immune response, sleep deficiency, diabetes and obesity.
In mammals, circadian biology is partially governed by the brain's suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) or central clock. Individual organs and cells also contain their own circadian clocks, called peripheral clocks, that operate on 24-hour schedules. The clocks are driven by a self-governed transcription-translation feedback loop that involves the core clock-controlling genes BMAL, CLOCK, CRY and PER.
Dr. Frank A.J. L. Scheer, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital, elucidated that the SCN / central clock is most sensitive to retinal light information whereas peripheral clocks have to balance whether they listen to signals derived from the SCN (through the regulation of core body temperature and hormones) or to inputs from environmental behaviors such as feeding times and exercise. This multi-oscillation system means that different clocks are sensitive to different zeitgebers (time cues).
An eating schedule that is misaligned with a person's circadian rhythms can increase their risk of becoming obese or developing type 2 diabetes. Dr. TusaRebecca Pannucci, branch chief of Nutrition and Economic Analysis at USDA, explained that time-restricted eating (TRE) could be an effective dietary strategy for combatting digestive and metabolic problems. TRE is a dietary pattern that optimizes daily rhythms for insulin peaks and glucose tolerance by consuming food within a shortened window of time during the day.
Dr. Marishka Brown, director of the NIH National Center on Sleep Disorder Research, asked about innovative ways to increase awareness of sleep health and disorders. Alexandra shared that CSD-N recently presented about CRDs to a Micron Technology's Employee Resource Group (ERG), which focuses on creating a culture of inclusion and acceptance for people with invisible conditions and unseen disabilities.
The next meeting, on April 7, 2023, will be the first since the pandemic that members will be attending in person.
