# Circadian Medicine **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 14, 2022, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circadian-medicine/967911 "2022-07-14T01:02:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circadian-medicine/967911/1 "2022-07-14T01:02:23Z")
I’m kind of fascinated by this article in the New York Times Magazine. Everyone knows that the body has a sleep/wake cycle regulated by ambient light and hormones like melatonin. **This article discusses newer research saying half the genes in the body are timed.** The possible implications range from UV light being many times more damaging at 4am than 4pm, when to best take medicines, digest food and many other major processes. We know a lot less about this stuff than we should. I say this as someone who has worked thousands of nightshifts, which ain’t easy. Babies are often kept in shaded areas in the NICU. It seems carefully keeping 12h periods of light and dark leads to premature babies being discharged days earlier. I wonder how much of this is woo and how much wonderful? What do you think? > **[The Quest by Circadian Medicine to Make the Most of Our Body Clocks](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/06/magazine/circadian-medicine.html)** > > Researchers are trying to figure out the right hour of the day to do everything. Can their studies sync us up with better health? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circadian-medicine/967911/2 "2022-07-14T13:52:15Z")
Why should we waste medical resources treating noisy bugs that show once every few years? Oh, ci **R** cadian medicine. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circadian-medicine/967911/3 "2022-07-14T19:52:39Z")
Quit chirping. This ain’t Jupiter. That’s a long time. But a pretty witty joke. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circadian-medicine/967911/4 "2022-07-14T23:09:51Z")
I really think this will be an important thing twenty years from now. After all, just think how often you are exposed to UV rays at 4 am…