TICK-TOCK

Each day runs as per the clock; the clock on the wall, or the one on your wrist. But did you know that you have a body clock ticking inside you? You can be your own timekeeper and lead a healthier life

Dr Parul R Sheth

You may not realise that there is an internal clock ticking inside your body until you experience a change in sleep patterns or have a jet lag. Experts in chronobiology; the science of body time say that you can optimise your health, prevent and treat illness, by paying more attention to your internal clockwork. Being your own timekeeper, you can look forward to a much healthier life.
THE 24-HOUR CLOCK
The day and night sets the brain's circadian clock – Latin word – circa meaning 'around' and diem or dies meaning 'day'. Scientists have located the clock in the brain. The clock is regulated by light and is directly related to the body's responses.
    Dr Michael Smolensky, Director, Chronobiology Center at Hermann Hospital, University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, US and Dr Lynne Lamberg, a veteran medical writer for The Journal of the American Medical Association, write in their book, The Body Clock Guide to Better Health, "The brain's clock governs whether or not you're crabby before you have your morning coffee, how quickly you can write a letter and how accurately you can proofread it, whether or not you fall asleep at the symphony, when your ulcers act up, and more."
    Says Dr V D Joshi, neurosurgeon attached to Jupiter Hospital and Divine Hospital, Mumbai, "Body clock located in the brain does influence day-to-day activities. We can enhance our performance by understanding and following the body clock. Babies too follow the body clock completely. They sleep more at night and cry for feeds at a regular time. However, as age advances, control over the body clock reduces."
    If you pay attention, you can notice the circadian rhythms or biorhythms working during the 24-hour period of day and night. Your liver enzymes get set in anticipation of food around lunch time. The pineal gland in your brain produces melatonin to put you to sleep when its late evening. Your body temperature is lowest before you wake up and rises as you wake up in the morning. In fact your heartbeat too fluctuates by as much as 20-30 beats per minute over a stretch of 24 hours, muscle contractions vary; virtually every body function shows a circadian rhythm.
INTERESTING RESEARCH
FINDINGS
    Heart attacks and strokes are twice as likely to occur in morning than at other times especially because there is a spurt in blood pressure in the morning
    For asthmatics, the airway potency is poorest at night and best at noon
    Birth peaks in early morning and early afternoon
    Chemotherapy for cancer may be more effective and less toxic if administered at night
    The best time for women to get a mammogram is 5-10 days after her period