Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research paper - Essay ExampleThe term circadian traces back its grow to the Latin words circa, which means around, and dies, which means day. It refers to biological processes in plants and animals that repeat in 24-hour cycles (American Heritage dictionary of the English Language (3rd ed.)). Indeed, the most obvious function of circadian rhythms in humans is the short sleep/ light up cycle, wherein adults generally tend to become sleepy between 10 PM and midnight and to awaken feeling rest between 6 AM and 8 AM. Research indicates that poor sleeping quality contributes to a infinite of illnesses such as hypertension, cardiac arrest, stroke, hyperthyroidism, and eventual fatality (Shneerson 102). Considering the detrimental effects that poor quality sleep and irregular sleeping patterns cause, it is important to know what factors contribute to the disruption of the bodys circadian rhythm. In particular, this paper would like to investigate if engaging in slipperinessing schedul es is among the factors that contribute to the disruption of the bodys circadian rhythm. II. Review of Related Literature Circadian rhythm is just one of the many semestrial cycles that the human body adheres to. Other periodic events in the human body include ultradian rhythms, womens menstrual cycle, and circannual rhythms that atomic number 18 present in both males and females. Circadian rhythms ar caused by oscillators situated in the carrell nuclei with a number of genes participating and creating a translationaltranscriptional feedback system in which some gene products gather up and inhibit the clock gene function, followed by a release of gene function when the gene products are removed metabolically out of the feedback cycle (Haus & Smolensky 491). Studies show that certain social, cultural, and industrial developments have break off this purportedly regular body cycle. For one, the development of the light bulb has radically changed peoples sleep patterns because t he stylized light that a light bulb emits fools the body into thinking that it is daylight and thus contributes to the phenomenon of people staying up late at night and waking up late in the morning (Moore-Ede 157). In addition, the divine guidance of caffeine and intoxicant has too affected the quality of sleep that people enjoy. Large doses of caffeine are found to increase the heart rate and stimulate the brain and behavior (Nordegren 54). On the other hand, alcohol intake briefly causes drowsiness and is thus used by some people to initiate sleep. However, perimeter to its hypnotic effect often leads to an increase in the amount being ingested until sleep-wake patterns are totally disrupted in the end (Shneerson 105). Changes in todays lifestyle also entails that people no endless engage in normal working hours. Harrington defines normal working hours in such a manner that the individual works during the day and rests during the night, with some time left for recreation a nd other activities (58). People who do not engage in normal working hours tend to either work at night, on with extended hours or on shifts, thus violating the regular pattern of working at day and resting at night. In particular, three generally followed shifting schedules are the night shift which starts at 2200 hours, the morning shift which begins at 0600 hours, and the afternoon shift which typically commences at 1400 hours (Harrington 59 Akerstedt 90). Akerstedt further specifies that these different shift schedules also have different effects on