Chronobiology and Chronomics Honor Douglas Wilson. Neither CaloriesNor Anything Else are Equal at Breakfast and Dinner or Along OtherTime Scales

摘要

To honor Douglas Wilson, this paper reviews evidence for studying and quantifying rhythms as the indispensablecontrol, whether to assess the effect of a fixed-calorie meal taken as breakfast or dinner, or to understand howhuman physiology and pathology may be affected by space-terrestrial weather. Since D. Wilson’s work has dealtintensively with salivary hormonal determinations, we illustrate what can be learned from longitudinal series obtained inhealth or from a patient suffering from adynamic depression episodes recurring twice a year and lasting 2-3 months. Thesocially less unacceptable collection of serial salivary samples should be introduced more broadly into laboratorymedicine for a more refined diagnosis and as a means to guide the optimization of any needed treatment by timing.