A Cheap New Wonder Drug?
The exotic science of chronobiology offers new hope.
Originally Published In Psychology Today
Suppose you could go to any drugstore and purchase an over-the-counter product that could improve the quality of your sleep, your mental health and even your physical health.
Further, imagine that this product is inexpensive, free of side effects—and you only have to buy it once to achieve the benefits for the rest of your life.
The benefits of this unregulated product could include:
- Lowered risk of depression, anxiety and Seasonal Affective Disorder
- Lessened insomnia (if you happen to suffer from it).
- Lessened inflammation from autoimmune diseases such as arthritis and asthma (If you are prone to such inflammation)
- Increased resistance to infectious disease
- Lowered risk of cancer
- Improved cardiovascular health
- Lowered risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes
I don’t know about you, but if such a product existed, I’d call it a wonder drug.
Well, recent research into the neuroscience of circadian rhythms (how our nervous systems anticipate and adapt to light-dark cycles) suggest that such a wonder drug might actually exist, at a one-time price of about $20.
© Dr. Eric Haseltine
Dr. Eric Haseltine is an author, futurist, and neuroscientist. He has held senior executive positions in private industry and the public sector, including serving as the associate director and CTO for national intelligence at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Eric holds 15 patents in optics, special effects, and electronic media. He has published in Discover magazine, Brain Research and Society for Neuroscience Proceedings, and Psychology Today. His books include Long Fuse, Big Bang, The Listening Cure, with Dr. Chris Gilbert, and Brain Safari.