Circadian rhythm and your microbiota – are microbes responsible for diseases linked with inadequate sleep?
Circadian rhythm is a ubiquitous feature of life on Earth. Disruption of circadian rhythm
is associated with a surprising variety of diseases in humans. Individuals who work night
shifts and those who have sleep disorders have higher rates of diabetes, heart attacks
and strokes, along with increased risk for cognitive disturbance and mood disorders.
Communities of microbes inhabiting the body – the microbiota - also show circadian
oscillations.
These observations have led to the hypothesis that the absence of daily oscillations in the microbiota might contribute to downstream health problems from night shift work and disordered sleep.
Here Joe Alcock reviews the evidence implicating gut microbes and sleep-related illness and describe work at the University of New Mexico on the gut microbiota of patients in night shift workers and in those with obstructive sleep apnea.
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Joe Alcock is a professor of emergency medicine at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and the President-Elect of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. After earning his medical degree at UCLA and completing residency at the University of New Mexico, Dr. Alcock designed and taught a popular course on evolutionary medicine for UNM undergraduate and graduate
students.
His elective course on evolutionary medicine for medical students at the UNM School of Medicine is now in its 17th year. Dr. Alcock co-authored the upcoming Oxford University Press book, Evolutionary Medicine – Lecture Notes for Medical Students. His research focuses on the human relationship with the microbiome, using an evolutionary
lens of conflict and cooperation. He also studies clinical decision making and health care disparities in emergency medicine and critical care. Working with many collaborators, Dr. Alcock’s scientific outreach includes a zombie-themed medical conference series aimed at bringing evolutionary medicine and microbiome science to a broader audience.
Originally published at reilly.nd.edu.