Abstract

ANGELES-CASTELLANOS, Manuel et al. Ageing of a clock (cronobiology of old age). Rev. Fac. Med. (Méx.) [online]. 2011, vol.54, n.2, pp.33-40. ISSN 2448-4865.

Aging is the set of morphological and physiological changes generated by the action of time on living beings. These changes include the inability to adapt and respond to environmental challenges, by organs, apparatus and systems. Aging of organisms and particularly of man, has become a concern in recent years, because our life expectancy has increased significantly and this has increased the number of individual ailing from the effects of aging, which includes a series of processes of gradual deterioration of organs and their associated functions. Many diseases, such as dementia, joint disease, cardiovascular disease and some cancers have been associated with the aging process. One of the most notorious disorders in aged people is the alteration of the sleep-wake rhythm, a reflection of a malfunctioning biological clock and thus of the circadian system. This manuscript addresses the physiological basis and consequences of internal desynchronization suffered by aged people and numbers recommendations for the treatment of this disorder.

Keywords : aging; desynchronization; circadian rhythms; sleep/ wake cycle; suprachiasmatic nucleus.

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