Disrupting the circadian clock speeds up stroke onset and shortens lifespan, finds study

Long-term circadian disruption in a rat model of high blood pressure accelerated stroke onset and shortened lifespan, according to researchers from Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. Researchers also discovered the rhythmic nightly drop in blood pressure typical in healthy animals seemed to disappear in rats exposed to shifting light schedules. The study is published in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology.