Sleep Cycle Malfuction

In order to understand why our sleep cycle malfunctions, we must first understand what causes damage in the first place. The following are common issues that can disrupt your sleep cycle.

Regularity

As Dr. Smolensky reports in The Body Clock Guide To Better Health, our bodies crave regularity. Although we may have been able to stay up late on the weekends in our youth, we pay the price later in life. Any activity that takes us away from a consistent sleep/wake routine will throw off our body clocks. For example, we shouldn't be surprised that we suffer from Sunday night sleeplessness if we stayed up late and slept in on the weekend.

Refusing to sleep when the body clock wants to creates conflicting signals; it delays the body's ability to produce melatonin and cause the body temperature to drop, both critical factors for inducing and maintaining sleep. A regular schedule helps the body temperature to drop when it is supposed to. Those with sleep problems have body temperatures that drop more than two hours later than normal.

Delayed Sleeplessness

The body clock tends to naturally delay (or run a bit slow) anyway, and once it is out of sync, it is very difficult to reset it without medical intervention such as light therapy. (Most adults on average have a body clock that runs between 24.5 - 25.5 hours.) This type of sleep problem makes it difficult to fall asleep, can cause frequent nighttime awakenings, and morning exhaustion. If someone has a chronic problem falling and staying asleep, he or she will benefit quickly from light therapy but may have to use light consistently for several months or years.

Age and Sex

Age and sex are some of the most significant factors of circadian related problems. The body clock changes with age. For most people from adolescence to middle age, the body clock runs too slow. Women's body clocks tend to run slower than males, and they tend to start having difficulty at an earlier age. As women reach midlife, and most significantly by menopause, their body clocks tend to speed up. Men tend to have delayed body clock problems during late adolescence and even up to their early sixties, at which time they too begin to struggle with advanced or fast running body clocks.

Puberty & Young Adulthood: Late Night Sleeplessness

During puberty, the body clock overproduces melatonin in order to allow the body time to rest and recuperate from the significant growth and changes that are taking place. As a result, adolescents' body clocks tend to delay. Junior high and high school kids start struggling to wake up in the morning because their body clocks won't produce the 'waking hormones' for another few hours. Because their body clocks have delayed, they will not be able to fall asleep until later at night. This body clock cycle adapts easily to late night weekends and partying, but unfortunately compounds the delayed circadian rhythm problem.

Many people in this age category will suffer worse in the winter, as their body clocks receive an increased stimulus of darkness, which over produces melatonin and further delays the body clock. This is the main reason that Winter Blues is usually first seen in younger women and young men.

Midlife: Begins Early Morning Awakening & Evening Fatigue

Almost all body clocks will change with time. Although it happens earlier to women than men, those who previously had no problem will find they suffer from an advanced circadian rhythm. They begin to notice more early morning awakenings with difficulty falling asleep again. Morning time seems to be the best time of day, but evenings and late nights become increasingly more difficult to stay alert and feel energetic.

Golden Years: Early Morning Sleeplessness

By the time most people reach their sixties, their body clocks are running too fast. Most seniors experience chronic early morning sleeplessness because their body clocks have produced melatonin and other sleep hormones too early during the evening and can't maintain a full sleep cycle. Retirement communities and nursing homes' greatest staffing problem is during the night shift because most patients awaken in the wee hours of the morning.

Trauma, Stress & Mood Problems

Other factors such as surgery, stress, physical or mental trauma and mood problems can cause the body clock to malfunction. In these cases, the body clock will usually delay or advance, depending on age. In most cases, stress will affect the onset of sleep and the ability to stay asleep at night. Those who suffer from delayed circadian rhythms need specialized morning light. In fact, medical reviews now acknowledge that circadian rhythm problems are an underlying factor in most mood related problems.

Lack of Light

Winter darkness, darker climates and even environmental lighting can cause circadian related sleep and mood problems. When the body clock doesn't receive the needed light and dark signals at the right time of day, it will not function properly and will either speed up or slow down, depending on age. In some cases, the body clock may not delay or advance, but becomes weak and will not produce the right amount of hormones at the right time. In this case, one may not notice a sleep problem per se, but optimal functioning during the day is compromised, and he/she will probably experience fatigue.

Menstrual Cycles

In addition to controlling the daily sleep/wake cycles, the body clock is responsible for regulating menstrual cycles. The body clock signals the ovaries to develop the egg sac, and again about 14 days later, the body clock starts the release of the egg. Progesterone and estrogen production are both signaled by the body clock. During the late luteal phase, just before menstruation, the body clock tends to advance, causing early morning awakening in some women as well as depleting normal levels of serotonin.

Darkness may also be one of the major reasons menstrual cycles become irregular. Women who live near the equator or in sunny regions are more fertile and have stronger and more regular menstrual patterns than women who live in northern regions or spend more time indoors. Also, menstrual cycles during the darker winter months are longer than in the summer.

Specialized Light Regulates Circadian Rhythms

In the early 1980's researchers at the National Institute of Health discovered circadian rhythms and their effect on sleep problems. In 1984, the NIH also discovered that specialized bright light could quickly control circadian related sleep problems. Since 1984, thousands of studies in light therapy have confirmed that specialized light is the most effective regulator of circadian rhythms. Recent discoveries have also shown that specific wavelengths are responsible for suppressing melatonin and shifting circadian rhythms. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends specialized light therapy as a first line treatment for body clock sleep issues.