Circadian Rhythm and Obesity: The Role of the Body’s Clocks in Metabolic Disorders
800 million people worldwide struggle with obesity, a disease poised to cost over $1 trillion in medical consequences by 2025. Over 40% of the US population is impacted, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Obesity is a major risk factor in the development of illnesses that lead to diabetes, such as insulin resistance, hypertension, and other metabolic disorders. Long-term disruptions to circadian rhythm, the 24-hour cycle that governs most of the body’s activities, are associated with many conditions including obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, and type 2 diabetes. Circadian rhythm has shown bidirectional interaction with almost all metabolic processes and with energy homeostasis.1 Recent studies demonstrate that the circadian clock controls energy homeostasis by regulating the cyclical expression and activity of the enzymes, hormones, and transport systems involved in metabolism.2
The Master and Peripheral Circadian Clocks
Circadian rhythms are inborn, 24-hour cycles that influence many behaviors and physiological processes such as the sleep-wake cycle and how organisms anticipate and adapt to their environments.3 They are controlled centrally by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) located in the brain’s hypothalamus. The SCN serves as the master clock, governing peripheral clocks throughout tissues including the liver, muscle, gut, heart, and pancreas.4,5 Taken together, the central and local circadian systems form a feedback loop that regulates critical functions like... Read on here>>
Article: Circadian Rhythm and Obesity: The Role of the Body’s Clocks in Metabolic Disorders