What is a non-24-Hour sleep-wake phase disorder and what can be done to treat it?

Most of us have a relatively stable circadian rhythm, meaning that we will feel tired around the same time of the day and similarly when we feel energised remains somewhat constant. Indeed our circadian rhythm continuously shifts a few minutes every day, but what people who suffer from non-24-Hour Sleep-wake phase disorder experience is complete inconsistency in their sleep-wake cycle.

The sleep time of people who have non-24-hour sleep-wake rhythm shifts a little later every day, and the experience is that sleep time and wake up time continue to move later and later every day. Ultimately sleep times go in and out of alignment with other people as the weeks go by. Sleep disruption, and particularly non-24-hour sleep-wake alignment can be a truly tough disorder to overcome, as it affects mood, mental health stability and also general health due to a chronic lack of sleep as individuals suffering from this continue to live their lives according to society’s 24-hour rhythm.

LYS Technologies’ uses circadian rhythm research and technology to help tackle circadian rhythm disruption, even on a chronic level, by allowing users to understand exactly how the light in their surrounding is affecting their sleep-wake cycle and what they should do throughout the day to align their light intake with their 24-hour rhythm needs.

The LYS Button, which is a miniaturised light sensor feeds information directly to the app, which analyses the light intensity, colour and time of the day against basic information like a user’s wake up and bed times to give actionable tips on how the light is making them feel in real-time and what they should do to get the correct light at any time.

More and more of us are living in urban areas and our daily lives are no longer dictated by the light our body needs to have a healthy sleep-wake cycle. Dark homes, offices and trains make us tired during the day and intensely bright indoors in the evening disrupt our melatonin production.

Find out more about how LYS tackles circadian rhythm disruption.