Salk Institute: The Circadian Theory of Health

A Salk Institute lecture presenting circadian rhythm not as one subject among many but as an organising idea for health. The claim being that almost every function of brain and body runs on a daily schedule, so timing is a general principle rather than a specialist topic.

The evidence Dr Panda marshals is broad by design. Rhythms appear in sleep and activity, appetite and digestion, kidney and immune function, hormone release, DNA repair, and even the division and growth of stem cells. His group's time series studies across more than sixty tissues and brain regions documented them at the level of gene expression. Building on that, his research has shown that healthy rhythms reduce risk across inflammation, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia, while those diseases in turn dampen the rhythms, a bidirectional relationship that makes rhythm worth addressing during treatment as well as before it.

That opens the door to lifestyle interventions and to drugs targeting the clock itself, including in cancer care. The most complete statement of the overall thesis.