The circadian cycle may be altered in certain situations, which can lead to sleep disturbances and symptoms such as excessive daytime sleepiness and sleeplessness at night, or even lead to more serious health problems.
There are many ways to treat circadian cycle disorders, through physical exercise, sun exposure and melatonin intake, for example, being of great importance maintaining good sleep hygiene, which is characterized by the adoption of good sleep habits in order to replenish the energy that the body and mind need.Learn how to practice sleep hygiene.
- People with this disorder have difficulty falling asleep and prefer to sleep late and have trouble getting up early.
- So they often fall asleep and get up late most nights.
- Which can disrupt their social life.
Despite falling asleep and waking up later, in most cases people with this syndrome have normal sleep, it is not clear what causes this disorder, but it is thought that the cause is genetic, and that certain environmental factors can also influence, as is the case of reduced exposure to light in the morning , excessive exposure to light.nightfall, watching TV or playing video games late, for example.
How to deal with
One way to treat this problem is to further delay sleep time, from 2 to 3 hours every 2 days, until you reach the right sleep time, but it is a very difficult treatment to achieve due to the need to strictly respect the pattern and disadvantages.In addition, putting bright light at the right time to wake up and take melatonin at dusk can help readjust biological time.Learn more about melatonin.
People with this disorder fall asleep and wake up too early than what is considered normal and usually sleep early or late in the afternoon and wake up too early without the need for an alarm clock.
How to treat
To treat this problem, bedtime may be delayed by 1 to 3 hours every 2 days until you arrive at your scheduled bedtime and use light therapy.Find out what light therapy is and what it’s for.
These people have an indefinite circadian rhythm of the sleep-wake cycle.Generally, the most common symptoms are drowsiness or high-intensity insomnia depending on the time of day, forcing people to take a nap during the day.
Some of the causes of this disorder can be poor sleep hygiene, lack of sun exposure, lack of physical exercise or social activities, and it usually affects people with neurological diseases, such as dementia and mental retardation.
How to deal with
To treat this disorder, the person should set a fixed time in which they want to have the period of sleep, and in their free time, practice physical exercises and social activities, in addition to taking melatonin at dusk and exposure to light when getting up.1 or 2 hours can help achieve biological time.
People with this disorder have a longer circadian cycle of about 25 hours, which can cause insomnia and excessive sleepiness.The cause of this different circadian rhythm at 24 hours is lack of light, so blind people are generally more likely to develop this disorder.Disorder.
How to treat
Treatment is done with melatonin in the evening. Learn how to take melatonin.
This disorder, also known as jet lag-related sleep disorder, has recently increased due to the increase in long-haul air travel. This disorder is transient and can last from 2 to 14 days, depending on the number of time zones crossed, the direction in which the trip takes place and the age and physical capacity of the person.
Although the person may experience excessive sleepiness throughout the day, insomnia at night and waking up several times during the night, the endogenous circadian cycle normalizes and the disorder occurs due to a conflict between the sleep-wake cycle and sleep demand.a new standard due to a new time zone.
In addition to sleep problems, people with Jet Lag may also experience symptoms such as gastrointestinal upset, changes in memory and concentration, difficulty coordinating, weakness, dizziness, headache, fatigue, and discomfort and loss of appetite.
How to treat
Treatment consists of sleep hygiene before, during and after the trip and an adaptation to the wakefulness/sleep schedule of the destination, in addition medications that should be prescribed by the doctor, such as zolpidem, midazolam or alprazolam and melatonin..
This disorder has increased due to the new pace of work, presenting itself in people who work in shifts, especially those who change their working hours repeatedly and quickly, and in which the circadian system is unable to successfully adapt to these hours.
The most common symptoms are insomnia and drowsiness, decreased vitality and performance, which can increase the risk of work-related accidents, an increased rate of breast, colorectal and prostate cancer, an increase in blood pressure, an increase of gastrointestinal disorders and problems. Reproductive
How to treat
Treatment of this problem has limitations, as the worker’s schedule is very unstable, however, if symptoms cause a lot of discomfort, the doctor may recommend treatment with stimulant or sedative/hypnotic remedies and isolate the environment to sleep during the day.