Figure 24
From: Transdisciplinary unifying implications of circadian findings in the 1950s
Cyclic adrenocortical activation in humans. The cyclic adrenocortical activation in humans, shown by a decrease in counts of circulating blood eosinophil cells occurring before awakening (endogenous eosinopenia), leads in phase the increase along the 24-hour scale in the excretion of breakdown products of steroidal hormones (17-ketosteroids) following awakening. The adrenal activation as an event in the sleep stage of a circadian system may be compared as a critical event to ovulation in the ovarian cycle. Ovulation prepares for the start of an entire new life; adrenal activation teleonomically prepares for a new day in life [46, 88].