The answer, mounting research suggests, can influence everything from a person’s predisposition to diabetes, heart disease and depression to the optimal time for them to take medication. But unlike routine blood tests for cholesterol and hormone levels, there’s no easy way to precisely measure a person’s individual circadian rhythm.
New CU Boulder research, published in the Journal of Biological Rhythms, suggests that day could come in the not-too-distant future. The study found that it’s possible to determine the timing of a person’s internal circadian or biological clock by analyzing a combination of molecules in a single blood draw.
“If we can understand each individual person’s circadian clock, we can potentially prescribe the optimal time of day for them to be eating or exercising or taking medication,” said senior author Christopher Depner, who conducted the study while an…
