One example of an ailment which can be treated this way is arthritis. Rather than prescribing medicines to be taken anytime during the day, doctors can pinpoint the time when the drug is most needed and prescribe accordingly. Another concept being utilized more and more is time-released drugs. These are useful in preventing strokes and heart attacks, which are most likely to happen in the morning, when blood pressure is highest. Patients can now take a pill at bedtime which will not begin to work until several hours later, just in time to counteract the daily rise in blood pressure.
Some doctors are skeptical about the benefits of such timing techniques.
For example, blood pressure has to vary somewhat throughout the day for the body to meet physiological demands. There is a possibility that lowering blood pressure when it is biologically programmed to be high could cause the heart to worktoo hard in order to compensate. Overall, being aware if the bodys natural rhythms is smart medicine and should be explored and exploited more in the future.