Cronobiología y aplicaciones médicas (I). Los ritmos circadianos

Abstract

Chronobiology is a discipline that studies how biological processes are organized in time cycles in response to environmental fluctuations, including circadian, ultradian, and infradian rhythms. Circadian rhythms, which last approximately 24 hours, respond to the changes from light to darkness and other variations, whereas ultradian rhythms occur in cycles of less than 24 hours and infradian rhythms encompass cycles longer than one day. Chronobiology has multiple medical applications. The importance of each of these rhythms has been demonstrated in a wide variety of physiological processes. They act in a coordinated manner to regulate the body's different functions. On the other hand, the loss or disruption of these rhythms has been associated with a wide variety of clinical diseases. The dysregulation of these rhythms is associated with an endless number of medical conditions. In this first part of the work, the concept of chronobiology will be explained and the main types of biological rhythms in the body will be presented. After, it will focus on detailing the key underlying mechanisms of circadian rhythms together with their influence on different physiological and pathological processes.