The Importance of Circadian Rhythms in Humans with a Focus on Adolescents

The aim of the presented diploma thesis is a detailed outline of the meaning of circadian rhythms in adolescence. Circadian rhythms appear in early childhood, but undergo many changes during lifetime. While in early childhood the waking and sleeping cycle shifts to an earlier time, during adolescence it is quite the opposite and the cycle is shifted a few hours later and in older age the cycle even returns to an earlier state. Adolescence is associated with the most significant changes and increased demands on study, independence and generally more overload at the expense of quality and adeqaute sleep, which not only causes circadian rhythms to dissipate and shift dramatically, which such as health. For adolescents, the delayed phase is naturally correlated with sexual development, with sleep patterns being controlled by the biological component. Respecting physiological changes in adolescence and striving for institutional changes seem to be the most appropriate therapies instead of forcing patterns basen on institutional and parental needs, which only undermines adolescent body chemistry, results in insufficient and poor quality sleep for functioning and healthy physiological development of adolescents