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Author |
Foster, R.G.; Roenneberg, T. |
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Title |
Human responses to the geophysical daily, annual and lunar cycles |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Current Biology : CB |
Abbreviated Journal |
Curr Biol |
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Volume |
18 |
Issue |
17 |
Pages |
R784-R794 |
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Keywords |
Human Health; Biological Clocks; Birth Rate; Circadian Rhythm; Death; Female; Human Activities; Humans; Male; Moon; *Periodicity; Photoperiod; Seasons; Sexual Behavior; Sleep |
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Abstract |
Collectively the daily, seasonal, lunar and tidal geophysical cycles regulate much of the temporal biology of life on Earth. The increasing isolation of human societies from these geophysical cycles, as a result of improved living conditions, high-quality nutrition and 24/7 working practices, have led many to believe that human biology functions independently of them. Yet recent studies have highlighted the dominant role that our circadian clock plays in the organisation of 24 hour patterns of behaviour and physiology. Preferred wake and sleep times are to a large extent driven by an endogenous temporal program that uses sunlight as an entraining cue. The alarm clock can drive human activity rhythms but has little direct effect on our endogenous 24 hour physiology. In many situations, our biology and our society appear to be in serious opposition, and the damaging consequences to our health under these circumstances are increasingly recognised. The seasons dominate the lives of non-equatorial species, and until recently, they also had a marked influence on much of human biology. Despite human isolation from seasonal changes in temperature, food and photoperiod in the industrialised nations, the seasons still appear to have a small, but significant, impact upon when individuals are born and many aspects of health. The seasonal changes that modulate our biology, and how these factors might interact with the social and metabolic status of the individual to drive seasonal effects, are still poorly understood. Lunar cycles had, and continue to have, an influence upon human culture, though despite a persistent belief that our mental health and other behaviours are modulated by the phase of the moon, there is no solid evidence that human biology is in any way regulated by the lunar cycle. |
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Circadian and Visual Neuroscience, Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, Levels 5 & 6 West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK. russell.foster@eye.ox.ac.uk |
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0960-9822 |
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PMID:18786384 |
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LoNNe @ kagoburian @ |
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752 |
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Author |
Kloog, I.; Stevens, R.G.; Haim, A.; Portnov, B.A. |
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Title |
Nighttime light level co-distributes with breast cancer incidence worldwide |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2010 |
Publication |
Cancer Causes & Control : CCC |
Abbreviated Journal |
Cancer Causes Control |
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Volume |
21 |
Issue |
12 |
Pages |
2059-2068 |
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Keywords |
Adult; Birth Rate; Breast Neoplasms/*epidemiology/etiology; Carcinoma/*epidemiology/etiology; Circadian Rhythm/*physiology; Cohort Studies; Electricity; Female; Humans; Incidence; *Light/adverse effects; Lighting; Photoperiod; Registries; Urban Population/statistics & numerical data; World Health; oncogenesis |
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Abstract |
Breast cancer incidence varies widely among countries of the world for largely unknown reasons. We investigated whether country-level light at night (LAN) is associated with incidence. We compared incidence rates of five common cancers in women (breast, lung, colorectal, larynx, and liver), observed in 164 countries of the world from the GLOBOCAN database, with population-weighted country-level LAN, and with several developmental and environmental indicators, including fertility rate, per capita income, percent of urban population, and electricity consumption. Two types of regression models were used in the analysis: Ordinary Least Squares and Spatial Errors. We found a significant positive association between population LAN level and incidence rates of breast cancer. There was no such an association between LAN level and colorectal, larynx, liver, and lung cancers. A sensitivity test, holding other variables at their average values, yielded a 30-50% higher risk of breast cancer in the highest LAN exposed countries compared to the lowest LAN exposed countries. The possibility that under-reporting from the registries in the low-resource, and also low-LAN, countries created a spurious association was evaluated in several ways and shown not to account for the results. These findings provide coherence of the previously reported case-control and cohort studies with the co-distribution of LAN and breast cancer in entire populations. |
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Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Management, University of Haifa, 31905 Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel |
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0957-5243 |
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PMID:20680434 |
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IDA @ john @ |
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160 |
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