Why the Increase in Circadian Problems? : Philips

Life used to be simpler. Just a few decades ago, we would get up and wind down with the sun. And we spent much more time outdoors than we do now. This was important for our health, because we each have an internal body clock that depends on sunlight to tell us when to be active and energetic, and when to sleep.

Now with our hectic lifestyles, we often miss these critical signals from the sun, and our body clocks suffer. Without proper morning light, our body clocks don't produce the hormones we need to wake up and feel active. When we miss daytime light, we slump and become less productive. At night, we usually stay up hours after dark, causing sleep and mood problems. In fact, how we sleep, how active we are, and how we feel are all regulated by our body clock.

Circadian rhythms

The signals our body clock produces are called circadian rhythms (sir-kadian). Circadian is Latin for 'about a day,' and it describes the changing levels of hormones and neurochemicals that control our sleep, activity and mood. When your sleep or mood suffers, you may likely have a circadian rhythm problem. Medical journals report that most mood and sleep issues have an underlying circadian rhythm problem.

Circadian rhythm epidemic

Because of our hectic lifestyles, circadian related problems are reaching epidemic proportions. For example, the rate of winter blues and related energy & mood problems has doubled over the last 50 years, and sleep problems have tripled during the same time.

This epidemic intensifies in the fall and winter when we lose even more sunlight. The National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that 14% of Americans suffer from a Winter Blues. In the US, over 65 million people suffer from circadian related problems.

Repairing your body clock

Two decades ago, the National Institute of Health discovered a special type of bright light (about 20 times brighter than indoor light) could safely reset your body clock without harmful side effects. We participated in those early multi-center studies, and since then we've discovered that specific bandwidths of light will suppress the withdrawal hormone, melatonin, while other bandwidths produce active hormones such as serotonin.

Over the past two decades, we have refined this specialized light through dozens of clinical studies, and partnerships with leading research universities and hospitals worldwide. This specialized lighting process is known as BRITEWAVE technology.

BRIGHTWAVE light performs three important functions:

Resets your body clock, so your circadian rhythms function normally.

Immediately suppresses the withdrawal hormone, melatonin.

Stimulates the production of serotonin.

The BRITEWAVE advantage

BRITEWAVE uses a specialized type of bright light (specific wavelengths, color and intensity) to safely reset your body clock. Most people respond in jus a few days, and a few minutes a day is all it takes to keep your body clock in check.

Leader in light therapy

We have worked with the NIH in pioneering research related circadian rhythm (body clock) problems. Our BRITEWAVE technology is the most effective method for rebalancing and maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm.

Is BRITEWAVE for you?