This is a continuation of
a previous email about light hygiene and joint health.
This free paper entitled above is not a research paper but a free review paper concerning a variety of research papers about inflammatory arthritis. This is an example of peer review that is common among scientists.
The research paper in the previous email concluded by celebrating the coming day of inflammatory arthritis treatments with drugs, now that the cellular gene clocks have been identified that regulate inflammation.
This review disputes this idea proposed above by that research paper, and rather suggests using light hygiene and eating-timing as the correct approach.
Due to the overlapping complexity and multitude of peripheral clocks (body system clocks or clock genes within individual cells) the possibility of unintended consequences is very high, if one uses a drug to entrain a clock gene. Drug clock gene treatments might create a cure that is worse than the disease itself.
The master (or central) clock in the brain is entrained by the 24 hour light dark cycles via our eyes. It is also entrained by the "photoperiod" through our eyes. In other words our master clock in our brain can also "know" whether we live near the equator where there is NEITHER winter or summer adaptation required for better survival, or whether one lives towards the poles where alternately winter and summer adaptation is required for better survival. This seasonal discernment by the master clock in the brain is accomplished by the photoperiod. Photoperiod refers to the length of daylight versus night darkness, which varies seasonally. Again, the master clock receives this information from the eyes.
SAD (seasonal affective disorder) is a photoperiod driven disorder and it is treated with specially timed bright light therapy.
It was discovered that treating SAD via light hygiene also diminished the symptoms of inflammatory disease.
The master (central) clock is easily adjusted with light via the eyes, but what about entraining (adjusting) individual clock genes within cells (that sync with the master clock) that might be benefitted by some kind of adjustment?
It turns out that eating-timing has impact on the entrainment of clock genes within our cells. (Clock genes are genes within cells that tell other cell genes when to turn on and off).
In summary, with all of the information that we have to date, this review is suggesting that instead of using drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis, the better solution might be within the realm of human behavior by tailoring eating-timing and bright-light exposure (to the eyes) timing.
This email will be followed up by another about inflammatory joint disease, stay tuned.