Is there a dark side to Daylight Savings?
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — As we turn our clocks ahead one hour this weekend for the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, the later sunsets may be good for the soul, but not so good for our health.
Dr. Richard Waldhorn, a pulmonologist at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, said the time change can have a significant impact on our bodies.
“I look at the statistics, there are health consequences in that week after the shift to daylight saving,” he explained. “There’s a higher rate of heart attacks, there’s a higher rate of injuries and car accidents. Strokes increase, mental health and other cognitive problems also increase in that in that time.”
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Waldhorn also said there are other health impacts when moving clocks ahead one hour, including losing an hour of sleep which may seem “fairly harmless” but the effects could be prolonged.
“It can [be] like a prolonged jet lag that can last days, or weeks or even months in some people,” he said. “The second effect is that it changes the way our body’s circadian rhythm, which is the main biological rhythm that governs sleep and other factors in the in the body works, because that is very sensitive to the exposure to light.”
Waldhorn said if the human body receives more light in the evening, it will delay the time the circadian rhythm’s message to the body regarding when it’s to sleep.
“The synchronization of the rhythm and the daylight hours can further aggravate sleep problems as we go on for the next few weeks and months,” Waldhorn added.
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But there are things we can all do a few days ahead of the weekend so our bodies can adjust easier to the time change.
“It’s a good idea to go outside and get some daylight exposure in the mornings,” Waldhorn said. “As much morning light as you can get, the better, because that will counteract this effect of the prolonged evening light that we’re going to get later on.”
The daylight exposure in the morning for a couple days prior to the switch is a good, according to Waldhorn.
“The night before, try to get to bed an hour earlier to make up for the fact that we know we’re going to lose an hour of sleep that night because we can mitigate that effect by sticking to a schedule and by pre-treating ourselves, if you will, with some morning daytime sunlight,” he said.
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Waldhorn says kids have an easier time at adjusting to the time change than teenagers do.
“They tend to have a delayed sleep phase anyway and so if you now add bright light in the evening, or evening light to that, you can really prolong that so that they’re not being able to get to bed early and then they have to get up for school or work or whatever, and they’re going to be sleep deprived because of that,” he continued.
Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 10 at 2 a.m.
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