Circadian Rhythm

In 2017, three American scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm. There has been a long-standing appreciation that the cells in our bodies have genes associated with a molecular clock, but these scientists revealed how the clock genes can steer several important processes in the body.

Harriet Wallberg has demonstrated that circadian rhythm has an impact on glucose control in diabetes, i.e. the time of day a person with type 2-diabetes exercises is of importance for the positive effects of the training. In studies she has conducted with her research team, she has provided clinical evidence that high intensity interval training in the afternoon improves glucose control for up to 24 hours after the training, whereas the same training in the morning does not improve glucose control.