Why Circadian Rhythms are Becoming a Greater Issue

Our lives are changing,

There was a time when life was simpler. It's not so long ago,only a couple of decades,we would wake up with the sun and prepare for sleep as darkness fell. Most of our days were spent outdoors in the sunshine, but today we spend much more time indoors. We are only just begining to realise how important this was for our health, because we each have an internal body clock that depends on sunlight to tell us when to be active and energetic, and when to sleep.

Our lifestyles are so much more hectice now, we often miss these critical cues from the sun and moon, and our body clocks suffer. Without adequate light each morning, our body clocks fail to produce the hormones we need to start the day feeling active. When we missout on daytime light, we become less productive and lethargic. At night, we usually stay up hours after dark often causing sleep and mood problems.It is a now a known fact, how active we are, our general mood and how well we sleep, are all dependent upon our body clock.

Circadian Rhythms
The signals our body clock produces are called circadian rhythms(sir-kadian). Circadian is Latin for ‘about a day,’ and it describes the changing levels of hormones and neurochemicals that control our sleep, activity and mood. When your sleep or mood suffers, you may likely have a circadian rhythm problem. Medical journals report that most mood and sleep disorders have an underlying circadian rhythm disorder.

Circadian Rhythm Epidemic
Because of our hectic lifestyles, circadian related disorders are reaching epidemic proportions. For example, the rate of depression and related disorders has doubled over the last 50 years, and sleep disorders have tripled during the same time.

This epidemic intensifies in the Autum and winter when we lose even more sunlight. The National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that 6% of Americans suffer from a depression known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), while another14% have a milder form, called Winter Blues. Almost 18% of Americans suffer from depression and anxiety. In the US, over 65 million people suffer from circadian related disorders. Australia is no different just a smaller scale. It is estimated that 1 in 300 Australians suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder

Repairing your body clock
Two decades ago, the National Institute of Health discovered a special type of bright light (about 20 times brighter than indoor light) could safely reset your body clock without harmful side effects. Apollo participated in those Early multi-center studies, and since then we’ve discovered that specific bandwidths of blue light will suppress the withdrawal hormone, melatonin, while other bandwidths produce active hormones such as serotonin.

Over the past two decades, Apollo has refined this specialized light through dozens of clinical studies, and partnerships with leading research universities and hospitals worldwide. This specialised lighting process is known as BLUEWAVE™ technology.

Apollo’s BLUEWAVE™ light performs three important functions:

Resets your body clock, so your circadian rhythms function normally
Immediately suppresses the withdrawal hormone, melatonin
Stimulates the production of serotonin.

The BLUEWAVE™Advantage

BLUEWAVE™ uses a specialized type of bright light (specific wavelengths, color and intensity) to safely reset your body clock. Most people respond in jus a few days, and a few minutes a day is all it takes to keep your body clock in check.

Apollo Health Inc.

Apollo has worked with the NIH in pioneering circadian rhythm (body clock) disorders. Apollo’s BLUEWAVE™ technology is the most effective method for rebalancing and maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm.

Is BLUEWAVE™ for You?
If you lack energy, feel down, have trouble concentrating or sleeping, chances are you have a circadian rhythm disorder. Since all body clocks are different, the time of day to use the light is very important. If you would like to see if you have a circadian rhythm disorder, please visit: Circadian Rhythm Assessment for a free assessment test.