Sleep & Circadian Rhythm

Your circadian rhythm is the 24-hour internal clock which drives many important aspects of your health, and sleeping well is part of this.  Learn about how your genes impact your circadian rhythm and how this interacts with other health topics.

Member’s: Check out the Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Topic Summary Report for a quick overview of all your genetic variants.

Lithium orotate: A natural mineral that affects mood, Alzheimer’s disease, and aging

Researchers found that Texas counties with higher levels of lithium in their groundwater had less of an increase in Alzheimer’s rates compared with counties that had lower levels of lithium. This isn’t a total surprise since previous studies had linked lithium to a decreased risk of dementia, but it is a great confirmation at a large scale population level. 

Sleep & Circadian Rhythm Topic Summary

Utilize our Sleep & Circadian Rhythm Topic Summary Reports with your 23andMe or AncestryDNA genetic data to see which articles may be most relevant to you. These summaries are attempting to distill the complex information down into just a few words. Please see the linked articles for details and complete references. (Member’s article)

Genetics of Seasonal Affective Disorder

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is characterized by recurrent depression with a change in the season usually in fall/winter for most. Scientists think this is possibly due to an aberrant response to light – either not enough brightness to the sunlight or not enough hours of light. Your genes play a big role in this responsiveness to light.

Blue-blocking Glasses: Why? Which ones?

An easy way to improve sleep and increase melatonin production at night is to wear blue light blocking glasses before bed. Explore the research on why this is so important, and learn about the different options available for blue-blocking glasses.