Is Your Circadian Rhythm the Same as Your Internal Clock?

 

Is Your Circadian Rhythm the Same as Your Internal Clock?

The short answer is no.

However, they are closely related. Your body’s internal clock is cued by light, social activity, temperature, and more. As these environmental factors cue your internal clock, this affects your circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm literally means your “around the day” rhythm. It is how your body functions in 24-hour cycles.

Many people associate circadian rhythms with sleep, which is accurate, but it’s even more than that. Our circadian rhythms affect most biological processes, such as hormone cycles and food digestion. If our internal clocks are affected, it can disrupt our circadian rhythms.

Things like working night shifts or traveling across time zones can easily disrupt your internal clock, and therefore your circadian rhythm. Eventually, your body should adjust to different time zones, it just might take a couple of days. It isn’t likely that your body will completely adjust to working night shifts, though. Even just it being dark outside sends a signal to your body that you should be sleeping.

Many who work night shifts notice that they never truly feel rested and have difficulty getting good sleep. It is actually not uncommon for people who work nights shifts to develop “shift work sleep disorder.” If you work nights and find yourself having consistent sleeping problems like this, I would first suggest moving to working day shifts if possible. If not, make an appointment to see me at (817) 261-3000.

 

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Daily Life, SleepErin Shellenbergersleep, circadian rhythm, internal clock, night shift