“Are your bacteria jet-lagged?”
“People whose circadian rhythms are regularly disrupted — by frequent jet lag or shift work, for example — are more vulnerable to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. There are various theories to explain these associations, and researchers now have a new player to consider: the bacteria that live in the digestive tract. According to a study in mice and a small group of human volunteers, the internal clocks of these gut microbes sync up with the clocks of their hosts. When our circadian rhythms get out of whack, so do those of our bacteria.”
Fun with biological systems ☺ and by that I mean, once you screw one thing up it’s all ruined. Circadian rhythm is such an important aspect of health that I don’t think many people are empowered to be aware of within themselves, much less advocate for in the structures of their schools or workplaces. And I’ll have a lot more to say on that once I finally finish my NSF fellowship application and outprocess all the cool studies I have been reading.
(Credit to AI)
