All living organisms on Earth are exposed to a 24-hour day-night cycle. This cycle is the reason why people rest at night and are active during the day. Consequently,all human body functions also follow this daily rhythm, and the timing of behaviors like exercise or food intake can significantly influence your health. For example, eating at night can lead to weight gain over time because food intake at night leads to increased fat storage.
地球上所有的生物都处于 24 小时昼夜交替的循环之中。正是这种循环，让人类在夜间休息、白天活动。因此，人体的各项生理机能也都遵循着这种昼夜节律，而运动、进食等行为的时间选择，会对健康产生显著影响。例如，长期在夜间进食可能导致体重增加，因为夜间摄入的食物会转化为更多脂肪储存起来。
Many drug targets in the body follow a 24-hour cycle,too. This means that the specific proteins a drug is designed to modify can react differently to the medicine over the course of a 24-hour time period. Because how the body responds to a drug can differ depending on the time it is taken, it logically follows that taking medicines at specific times could help increase their effectiveness and reduce unwanted side effects.
人体内的许多药物作用靶点同样遵循 24 小时节律。这意味着，药物旨在调节的特定蛋白质，在一天 24 小时内对药物的反应会有所不同。由于人体对药物的反应会因服药时间而异，合理的推论是：在特定时间服药，有助于提升药效并减少不良反应。
When doctors prescribe medicine for people, they rarely consider the best time to take it. There are two main reasons for that oversight. First,many physicians are not aware that some drugs work better during a specific time of the day. And second, most drugs have not been studied for possible different effects during a 24- hour cycle. Therefore,patients are directed to take most drugs during the morning or evening primarily to ensure compliance.
医生为患者开药时，却很少考虑最佳服药时间。这种疏漏主要有两大原因：其一，许多医生并不了解部分药物在一天中的特定时段效果更佳；其二，大多数药物尚未针对 24 小时内可能出现的不同药效进行过相关研究。因此，患者服用的多数药物，医嘱仅为早上或晚上服用，主要是为了方便患者遵从。
Over 50 years ago, researchers found that the cholesterol drug simvastatin is more effective at lowering cholesterol levels when taken at night rather than during the day. This is because the liver enzyme(酶)these drugs target is more active at night.
早在 50 多年前，研究人员就发现，降胆固醇药物辛伐他汀在夜间服用，比白天服用更能有效降低胆固醇水平。这是因为这类药物作用的肝脏酶在夜间活性更强。
Taking medicine at the wrong time can even cause harm. My colleagues and I wondered whether midazolam, the most common sedative(镇静剂)used in surgical procedures worldwide,might interfere with the internal clock that protects the heart at night. Currently, there are no guidelines regarding when midazolam should be administered.
服药时间不当甚至可能对身体造成伤害。我和同事曾研究，全球手术中最常用的镇静剂咪达唑仑，是否会干扰夜间保护心脏的人体生物钟。目前，尚无关于该药物最佳使用时间的临床指导准则。
More research is needed to determine the best times to administer treatments for different diseases. I believe taking drug timing into account could help make treatments more effective and help more people worldwide.
要确定不同疾病治疗的最佳用药时间，仍需开展更多研究。我相信，将用药时间纳入考量，能够提升治疗效果，惠及全球更多患者
