Circadian Rhythms, Sleep, and Aging

Circadian mechanisms and the sleep-wakefulness rhythms guarantee survival, adaptation, efficient action in everyday life or in emergencies and well-being. Disordered circadian processes at central and/or cellular levels, sleep disorders, and unhealthy wakefulness/ sleep rhythms can impair the physiological circadian organization and result in subjective, professional, or behavioral changes ranging from functional inadequacy to higher risks at work or on the road to medical relevance. Circadian rhythms and the sleep organization change ontogenetically: major changes result from normal aging and from the multiple diseases that are often associated. There are circular functional interactions involving sleep/sleep disorders, the autonomic and immune systems, and the functional changes in the circadian system due to aging that deserve attention but have been overlooked thus far.