Human Reaction to Rhythm Changes in The Age of Miracles - Essay Example

Circadian Rhythms Introduction Karen Walker Thompson creativity in The Age of Miracles produced a mesmerizing book touching on disaster and survival. Through this fictional book, Thompson describes how the world woke up to discover the rotation of the earth had completely changed. The earth experienced what she calls “slowing” which resulted in longer days than usual and the time increasing gradually. The whole disaster affected the life on earth for both human and animals causing panic and changes in people (Walker 56). This story raises the concept of circadian rhythms, which refer to the biological clock that controls daily human movements. According to Martinez and Maria (141), the circadian rhythms operate on 24-hour cycles and contribute to the physical, mental, and even behavioral changes that are visible in humans, plants, animals, and also among microbes. This paper describes how circadian rhythms control daily human systems in relation to Thompson’s book The Age of Miracles (Martinez and Maria 142). In essence, circadian rhythms refer to centrally synchronized physiological, mental, and even behavioural processes which are regulated in people in approximately 24 hour sporadic cycle. In human beings, the circadian rhythms have been genetically organized to coordinate with night and day. A “biological master clock” that is centrally placed within the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) within the hypothalamus ensures that daily human functions are controlled. This system works to generate biological night and biological day in order to control the physiological, as well as behavioural patterns suited for day and night. It controls night activities like rest, memory control, cellular restoration, and also brain development. Additionally, circadian rhythms checks activities suited for day such as alertness and glucose development. When there are extended days or nights, it causes disruption of circadian rhythms that result in extensive health and behaviour problems (Martinez and Maria 142). Thompson book tells of a story where the rotation of the earth changes causing longer days and nights. The story narration comes to the readers through the eyes of Julia, an 11 year old girl living in California with her family. In the first day, the news breaks on television that the standard 24 hour has lengthened by 56 minutes. As the days slowly pass, they keep on lengthening from 25 hours to 40 hours and also to weeks. By the end of the book, Julia recounts that there are six-week periods of continuous daylight, followed by darkness. The lengthening of day and night is a scientific fact which occurs in some places like Alaska. In essence, circadian rhythms can occur when people have changes in sleep patterns such as sleeping for just three to four hours each night. However, the extent in which Thompson’s book explains the length of day to weeks and even months is fictional, and unlikely to happen (Walker 196). In reality, extended periods of light and day that are caused by disruption of the normal 24 hour cycle, causes physiological and behavioural changes in people. One of the major problems that this scenario causes is sleep disorders that result in discomfort. Delay Sleep Phase disorder occurs when a person fails to sleep on normal time by two or more hours. Many people who complain of this problem find it difficult to fall asleep in the evenings or find it difficult to wake up in the morning. Delayed Sleep Phase disease also means that a person faces difficulties sleeping on normal times and this leads to social problems (Martinez and Maria 143). Advanced Sleep Syndrome refers to a situation where sleepiness occurs before the usual schedule. These are people who sleep early in the evening and wake up early in the morning. In essence, it is a sleep disorder that appears abnormal and inconsistent to keep up a normal social life. The Non 24-Hour Sleep Wake Disorder is another effect of extended day or night and is common with many people. This disorder causes a person to have normal sleep patterns but exists in a 25-hour day instead of 24-hour. The sleep cycle of such an individual is always affected by unreliable insomnia, which happens at varied times every night. In essence, such a person can fall asleep later than usual and wake up later, while other times falls asleep at an earlier stage and still wake up early. There is also the Jet Lag or the Rapid Zone Change Syndrome that occurs when people travels and pass through time zones and is characterized by extreme sleepiness or lack of alertness during the day. Shift Work Sleep condition affects people who have to take night rotations in their work (Martinez and Maria 144). In the book, Julia explains that people with sleep problems began to notice the changes happening to the earth. Additionally, in the first few days, people were sleeping when darkness fell in as they did before. However, as daylight became longer, people experienced sleep disorders and discomfort. Many could not sleep with the light of the day even though many hours had passed. These are real scientific events that Thompson describes since it is difficult for many people to sleep with daylight. It became evident that the lack of sleep because of the extended daylight caused sleep disorders to the people. In the story, Julia declares that the night workers, troubled and the sick suffered more from the extended daylight and nights (Walker). In addition, extended days and nights which disrupt circadian rhythms affect people’s behavior and mood. People suffering from distraction of circadian rhythms tend to be impulsive or doing things without thinking clearly. They make prematurely thought-out decisions and actions which result in undesirable outcomes. In essence, in times of extended periods of day and night, the brain gets confused making a person impulsive from the pressure (Carney, Richard and James 361). From the book, Julia’s grandfather shows symptoms of impulsive behavior after the “slowing” of the earth began. The grandfather becomes confused and feels that the events happening are related to a government conspiracy to destroy the world. He becomes withdrawn and spends days obsessing and cataloging all his possessions. The effects of the “slowing” become extreme for him that he almost lost his memory, disappeared and he was found dead days later (Walker). The distraction of circadian rhythm through long days and nights also causes anxiety because of tiredness. This behaviour becomes visible as individuals seem nervous, worried, fearful, and apprehensive. A person feels vague and unsettled to face the challenges of life and become excessively anxious. In essence, anxiety generates other problems such as obsessive compulsive disorder, panic, post-traumatic stress, and phobia among others (Carney, Richard and James 359).Thompson’s novel describes Julia’s mother who seems to be suffering from stress after the “slowing” began. Her mother developed an obsessive compulsive disorder where she hoards food in the house. She piled large packs of food in the house that she continued to bring for many days without stopping. She also appeared to have post-traumatic stress that resulted in fainting spells as the days wore on. Julia’s mother became anxious and stressed with life which resulted in a rift within her marriage (Walker). Increased negative moods are common when long stretches of day and nights are experienced. The major cause of this problem includes the excessive exhaustion and depression from lack of enough sleep. In essence, people develop unruly behaviour that stem from the pressure and stress of the long days or nights (Carney, Richard and James 368). For example, from Julia’s school many students began behaving badly and unruly. Many of the young boys and girls took up to bullying others and humiliating them which appeared as a way of seeking attention. Julia’s friend Hannah also became distant and paranoid that she left town with her parents. When she came back she ignored Julia and refused to talk with her even though they had shared a close friendship before (Walker). It is also apparent that the distraction of circadian rhythms results in health problems. Health practitioners cite obesity as one of the problems that result from continuous lack of sleep. Research into this problem indicates that it involves adapting to metabolism and appetite with the body. In essence, while sleeping, the body discharges hormones that control appetite, metabolism, and glucose dispensation. Poor sleep increases the generation of ghrelin a chemical that informs the brain of hunger while it decreases leptin that alerts the brain that one is full. Diabetes is a common heath problem that occurs due to lack of enough sleep especially type 2 diabetes. The problem occurs because people who are deprived of sleep process glucose at a slow rate compared to those who sleep long (Carney, Richard and James 368). In essence, the long days and night in the book caused many health problems for people. Many people began to suffer from “slowing” associated symptoms that caused blisters and fainting all over. The symptoms from the diseases are related to gravity and radiation that occurred but also the lack of sleep intensified the issue. There are people, who develop cancerous conditions and mysterious illnesses that have no cure. Julia’s mother and her boyfriend Seth include the people with strange diseases that no one seems to understand (Walker). From the novel, Walker’s portray of fiction is energetic and convincing to the reader. However, the fictional material shows farfetched ideas that appear impossible to happen. For example, the story tells of how the long days stretched from week to months without the night appearing. The earth’s gravity begins to fall and this means that many accidents and mishaps occurred in situations where they could easily be avoided. The book also describes how many birds and animals became extinct from the radiation and gravity failure. The concept of a society suddenly losing many animals and strange diseases appearing into the entire world does not seem possible. However, looking at the facts from the case, the related stretching of daytime and night by a few hours happens often in countries like United States (Alaska), Sweden, Finland as well as Iceland. These eventualities are possible because countries have dealt with radiation, extinction, and even long days than nights in many instances (Walker). Conclusion Thompson Walker’s book The Age of Miracles, represents a world turned upside down by disasters caused by changes in the rotation of the earth. The change in rotation led to long days and night that affected people physically, physiologically and also in behavior. The people suffered anxiety, impulsiveness, and paranoia, health as well as sleep problems from the ordeal. In reality, the book represents real problems that can occur in situations where distraction of circadian rhythms occurs because it controls daily functioning of the human body. Despite the fact that the book is fictional, many parts represent actual problems that people face when circadian rhythms are affected. Works Cited Carney, Paul R., Richard B. Berry, and James D. Geyer, eds. Clinical sleep disorders. New York: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005. Print. Martinez, Denis, and Maria do Carmo Sfreddo Lenz. "Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders." Indian Journal Of Medical Research 131.2 (2010): 141-149. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. Walker, Karen. The Age of Miracles. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012. Print. Read More