Scientists have discovered a drug they say can reset the body's clock and offer relief to people who suffer from fatigue and insomnia caused by disrupted sleep patterns.
A person's circadian rhythm, or internal body clock, is responsible for synchronising vital bodily functions to a 24-hour cycle, with the humans designed to be awake during the day and asleep at night. Various things can upset this rhythm including shift work, time zone changes, medications, pregnancy, and certain physical and mental health problems.
The body clock is regulated by external cues, the most important of which is daylight. However, researchers have discovered that it can also be reset by Glucocorticoids, a type of steroid hormone, which can synchronise blood cells to "fool" the body into thinking night is day and vice versa.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And the new drug could be of use to many. "Problems adjusting to atypical work schedules are a major issue for society," explained researcher Dr Diane Boivin, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Previous research has also linked prolonged body clock disruption to heart and metabolic disorders and even cancer. "Our previous studies clearly show that desynchronised circadian clocks disrupt the sleep, performance and cardiac parameters of night-shift workers," said Boivin.
Millions of people, including shift workers and business travellers who routinely cross several time zones, stand to benefit from the pill, but it is not yet ready to be released for general use.
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Sudoku medium: August 23, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drugSpeed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policySpeed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UKSpeed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
-
Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakersSpeed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
-
Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
-
Motherhood: why are we putting it off?Speed Read Stats show around 50% of women in England and Wales now don’t have children by 30
-
Anti-Semitism in America: a case of double standards?Speed Read Officials were strikingly reluctant to link Texas synagogue attack to anti-Semitism
