The Body Clock Guide to Better Health

(A Book Review)

Did you know that the majority of people don't know how to tell time?  Body time, that is, and "everybody" includes a lot of doctors and other health professionals.   The Body Clock Guide to Better Health explains about your body's personal body rhythms and a new field of medicine called chronomedicine.

Body time matters in almost every phase of your life.  It's especially essential in keeping you healthy.  The time of day you take your medication can affect how well the medicine works and whether there will be side affects.  The time of day you take diagnostic tests - blood tests, urine tests, even your blood pressure, can make a change in what results the test shows.

The study of the body and time has been going on for many years.  Way back in 1735, an astronomer in Paris noticed the way a plant responded to morning and night.  He wondered if it was the light that caused the responses, and to find out, locked the plant in a dark closet.  Much to his surprise, despite the lack of sunlight, the plant still raised its leaves in the morning and lowered them at night.  It took many more years to discover just how the system worked.

Are you a lark, an owl or a hummingbird?  Smolensky and Lamberg explain just what these three types of body rhythms are and how they affect you and your lifestyle.  They suggest you should study your own body rhythms to find out if you are a day or a night person or somewhere in-between.

Your body clock affects not only your physical reactions, but your mental ability as well, and can explain a lot of mood swings.  The Body Clock Guide talks about the different stages of sleep from very light sleep to the deep, healing sleep everyone needs.  What is REM sleep? You'll find the answer in this book, and also discover just why you need to get adequate sleep and what sleep deprivation does to you.

Chapter Eight takes you through the years from babyhood to the teens and explains the differences for each age group. Babies are already cyclic in their sleep patterns, and tend to sleep more at night than during the day starting on their second day of life.  Do you know why teens are like zombies in the morning? The Body Guide explains the changes in sleep needs for these difficult years.

Your body clock and rhythmic cycles affect so many things.  Exercise and sports, for instance.  Should you exercise in the morning or later in the day?  Does your menstrual cycle make a difference?  When you exercise and the type of exercise can make a difference on how well or how poorly you sleep.  How our bodies handle food is also governed by when we eat, and the food we eat has an influence, again, on how well we sleep.

The Body Guide also covers sexuality and the best times to engage in sex.  Want to get pregnant?  Keep track of your body's rhythms.  Most people know about the hormonal changes in a woman's body as she moves into menopause.  But were you aware that men approaching mid-life also experience hormone changes?

The Body Guide goes on to discuss how to cope with jet lag and about the use of chronobiology in the workplace to improve working conditions and accommodate those with a different body rhythm or those who have to work shift work.

Healing depends on your own body rhythm.  The Body Guide gives a list of illnesses from A (AIDS) to U (Urinary disorders,) and explains when their symptoms are most and least troublesome over the day and when it's best to treat them.

And what is to come?  The authors believe that in the twenty-first century, there will be better health through the use of chronotherapy. Computers will facilitate the way we keep track of our body rhythms and the times our bodies exhibit unusual patterns. Further research and education will foster a deeper understanding of chronobiology.

Throughout the book you'll find charts, illustrations and self tests to help you understand chronobiology and your own body rhythms.  Also included are diaries to help you keep tabs on your health.  For those who want to learn more, the authors have included an extensive list of
resources.

Lynne Lamberg reports on biological rhythms for The Journal of the American Medical Association.  She also writes a monthly book review column, Books for Sleepless Nights.  This is her sixth book.  Michael Smolensky, Ph.D., is the Director of the Chronobiology Center art Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas and co-editor-in-chief of the journal Chronobiology International.

I would recommend The Body Guide to Better Health to anyone who wants to learn what makes his or her body tick.

To see the Table of Contents for The Body Clock Guide to Better Health and  read an excerpt, visit http://www.bodyclocks.com

Another review entitled "Learning to Tell Time on the Body's Clock" appears in the February 5, 2002 issue of the New York Times.
 
 

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