[General introduction to clinical chronobiology and the therapeutic manipulation of biological rhythms].
In humans, most clinical variables follow biological rhythms approaching to a mathematical function defined by the cosmic-climatic rhythm. Chronophysiology, chronopathology, chronopharmacology, chronotherapy and phototherapy have common elements frequently studied in a disperse manner, thus making it difficult a global understanding of clinical chronobiology as a unitary and well-characterized discipline. This review focuses on medical chronobiology, which is much more technical since it only gathers those directives of clinical chronobiology having a health-care impact on daily practice.
Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Pere A
PA
Martínez-Carpio
August
A
Corominas
D000208:Acute Disease; D002908:Chronic Disease; D021081:Chronobiology Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D002909:Chronobiology Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D019454:Chronotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans