Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, meaning most of us will lose an hour of sleep that night as we “spring forward” by one hour. “Normal” time will resume when DST ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 5.
We can either turn the clocks forward before we go to bed Saturday night, wait for clocks to automatically set themselves, or risk being an hour late to church or whatever our first encounter may be after we awaken Sunday.
We’ve noted before that a majority of Americans agree that moving clocks forward and backward during the year is a bad idea. We agree there should be one setting, but we disagree on whether it should be the default setting or the DST setting.
Since we’re not going to change anyone’s mind, allow us to use this space to remind readers to use caution when operating under the time change.
A 2020 study by the National Institutes of Health found that around 150,000 Americans experienced physical health problems caused by the spring time changes.
“The transition to daylight saving time is beneficial for energy conservation but at the same time it has been reported to increase the risk of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular problems,” according to the study abstract. “We found four prominent, elevated risk clusters, including cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks), injuries, mental and behavioral disorders, and immune-related diseases such as noninfective enteritis and colitis to be significantly associated with DST shifts in the United States and Sweden.”
The disease risk elevation is modest in most cases but a “considerable number of diseases exhibit an approximately 10% relative risk increase.”
These included strokes, heart attacks, accidents and changes in mood, according Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News chief medical correspondent.
Another new study, recently published in the journal of Current Biology, finds that fatal car crashes increase by 6% the week following DST. This is because the annual time switch increases sleep deprivation, resulting in jet lag-like symptoms that leave people feeling drowsy behind the wheel of a car. It can also lead to more workplace injuries and sleep disturbances.
The lesson to be learned here is that we need to prepare for the time change before Saturday night. The negative effects can be prevented if we ease into the time shift and make a point to get plenty of sleep, especially for the next week or two. Turn off phones, laptops and TVs at night, avoid heavy meals for dinner and try not to drink caffeinated beverages or alcohol before going to bed. In other words, give yourself some TLC – whatever the clock says.
