Some people are more sensitive to the time change than others. Those on the western edges of time zones see later sunrises than people on the eastern areas of time zones, which may make the adjustment more difficult, Malow says, since it’s darker longer in the morning. Usually, people who work during the day and have consistent schedules can adjust within a week, says Jade Wu, author of Hello Sleep: The Science and Art of Overcoming Insomnia Without Medications. This sudden change has material impacts: Studies have shown that deadly car accidents, workplace injuries, and heart attacks increase following the springtime change. All of a sudden, you’re eating, sleeping, and socializing at different times, and the body needs to play catchup. “When the clock time is different than what the body is feeling or experiencing, we tend to feel a bit off until the body’s hormones re-regulate in a few days.”Ĭompared to the gradual change in daylight hours leading up to daylight saving time, the abrupt shift is a jolt to the body. “The body releases sleep-time and wake-time hormones at a particular time,” says Nilong Vyas, a board-certified pediatric sleep coach, founder of family sleep consulting service Sleepless in NOLA, and medical reviewer for. Even if you wake at the same time every day, the shift from standard to daylight saving time means it’s suddenly dark in the morning and your circadian rhythm is disrupted. Various cues, like light, trigger the release of hormones alerting the body to wake up, feel sleepy, get hungry. Changing the clock confuses the bodyĮvery process within the body, from sleep to metabolism, runs on an internal clock, known as circadian rhythm. “It’s not just a loss of an hour asleep, but we’re getting our light at a whole different time of day,” says Beth Malow, the director of the Vanderbilt Sleep Division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Whether you’re a parent (to humans or pets) or an early riser who hardly enjoys waking in the dark, you can make the transition into daylight saving a little less painful. But this transition can be more disruptive beyond just losing one hour of sleep. In the spring, the one-hour change means more daylight in the evening and darker mornings in the fall, the sun sets earlier while mornings are lighter. The premise is simple: shift the clocks so people can get the maximum amount of daylight. This year, most of the country (except for Hawaii and Alaska) shifts from standard time - which runs from early November through mid-March - to daylight saving time on Sunday, March 12. Originally introduced during World War I as a means of conserving fuel and power by extending the amount of daylight each day, the tradition has persisted in some capacity since 1966. Twice a year, Americans shift the clock - an hour forward in the spring, an hour back in the fall - in a well-known practice known as daylight saving.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |