Is Daylight Saving Time Bad For You?

Hugh Pickens writes "According to experts on circadian rhythms, the hour shift in sleep schedule from Daylight Saving Time can have serious effects on some people's health, particularly in people with certain pre-existing health problems. One study found that men were more likely to commit suicide during the first few weeks of Daylight Saving Time (DST) than at any other time during the year, and another study showed that the number of serious heart attacks jumps 6% to 10% on the first three workdays after DST begins. Dr. Xiaoyong Yang, an assistant professor of comparative medicine and cellular and molecular physiology at Yale University, theorizes that shifts in biologic rhythms could trigger harmful inflammatory or metabolic changes at the cellular level, to which these individuals may be more susceptible."

Comments

People who travel?

[ramk13]

How does this compare to people who travel one time zone over, let alone multiple time zones? Aren't these people (millions) in worse shape?

Lengthening the Blanket...

[kenwd0elq]

I saw an editorial cartoon perhaps 30 years ago. In the cartoon, Richard Nixon is depicted sitting in a rocking chair saying "I need to make this blanket longer, so that we can stay warm in the winter. So I'll cut one foot of the blanket off at one end, and sew it onto the other end." That's everything you need to know about Daylight Savings Time.

Time to solve the problem

[Wowsers]

To solve the problem is VERY simple, but the politicians don't like it. When you move to summer time, move the clocks 1/2 hour forward instead of 1 hour... and then LEAVE them there. No more going forwards and backwards wasting time changing countless clocks and gadgets, and no more bickering about moving the timezone multiple hours forward like the UK had recently just to please some European fascists.

Recent campaign for UK to be on Berlin Time
Portugal wants to move back to GMT

The problem is psychological, not physiological

[grizdog]

The problem with DST is the free lunch mentality that goes with it. It was the first response of Congress to the "energy crisis" of the early 70's, and has remained the solution of choice for similar problems ever since. People genuinely believe they are getting "an extra hour of daylight", and expect other little bonuses to be handed to them just as painlessly. Sorry for the rant, but it's long been a pet peeve of mine.

Re:The problem is psychological, not physiological

[martin-boundary]

Of course they're getting an extra hour of daylight. I can't believe your post was marked insightful. Way to miss the point.

Sure it's trivial that the number of physical hours of daylight in a 24 hour period doesn't change by changing the clocks, but that's never been the reason to do so. The reason is that people's lives are regulated by clocks. They get to work at 9, and leave at 5, or whatever the hours are. That also means they sleep during the "night" that's defined by those clocks.

The point of daylight savings is that the work hours and night hours are shifted, so that during the period when they are awake and working and living, the amount of daylight is, actually, truly, increased. Also, during the period when the clocks say it's time to sleep, the amount of darkness is increased.

Daylight savings is a great idea, and will continue to be a great idea for as long as human societies are using clocks to synchronize economic activity.

It didn't used to be like that. In medieval or ancient times, people's days started at dawn and ended at sunset, and that was the economic regulator. They didn't have appointments at ten, meetings at two, eight working hours etc. Instead they had longer work days in summer, shorter work days in winter, and meetings around midday, plus or minus a few hours.

I can't believe I have to spell this out on slashdot.

Re:Yep

[Xtifr]

If it's really a health issue, why adjust your sleep schedule to match the changing clock? Can't you simply get up an hour earlier during winter?