Managing circadian rhythms through intense light and timed therapy may help prevent or treat a variety of circulatory system conditions, including heart disease, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
The study was published today in Circulation investigationofficial magazine of the American Heart Association.
“The impact of circadian rhythms on cardiovascular function and disease development is well established,” said the study’s senior author, Tobias Eckle, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “However, preclinical translational studies focusing on the circadian biology of the heart are now emerging and are leading to the development of a new field of medicine called circadian medicine.”
The lead author is Professor Tami A. Martino, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Cardiovascular Research at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.
The study reviews current research on circadian medicine, focusing on the use of intense light therapy after surgery, using light to treat heart injuries, exploring how cardiovascular diseases may differ between men and women, and administering medications at specific times of the day to match the body’s internal hours. watch to speed up healing.
He also urges more aggressive use of this therapy in humans, rather than relying primarily on animal models.
“There are literally millions of patients who could benefit from this,” Eckle said. “The treatments are almost all low risk. Some involve the use of light boxes and others use medications that are already on the market.”
Circadian rhythms significantly influence the functioning of the cardiovascular system. Time is everything. Blood pressure and heart rate follow different patterns, peaking during the day and decreasing at night. When this is disrupted, worse outcomes occur in cardiovascular diseases, including myocardial infarction and heart failure.
Light is essential to maintain proper balance and functioning of the body. Shift employees who may work overnight and then during the day often have worse cardiac outcomes.
Eckle, who has studied circadian rhythm and health for years, said bright light can help the body heal after heart surgery while protecting it from injury during surgery, including reducing the chances of cardiac ischemia. .
According to researchers, when light reaches the human eye it is transmitted to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, a structure in the brain’s hypothalamus that regulates most of the body’s circadian rhythms. Intense light stabilizes the PER2 gene and increases levels of adenosine, which blocks electrical signals in the heart that cause irregular rhythms, making it a heart protector.
Eckle has used phototherapy with patients after surgery and has seen positive results, including lower levels of troponin, a key protein whose elevation can indicate a heart attack or stroke.
Given the growing evidence that bright light and scheduled drug treatments are effective, he said, it’s time to move forward with more clinical trials.
“Circadian rhythms play a crucial role in cardiovascular health, influencing the timing and severity of cardiovascular events and contributing to the disease healing process,” Eckle said. “Human studies are clearly needed. As for intense phototherapy, chronotherapy and restricted feeding are low-risk strategies that should be tried as soon as possible.”