Falling back: How the end of daylight saving time affects the body
Sunday at 2 a.m. we are going back to standard time. Some health groups, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine want to use standard time year-round.
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We turn the clocks back an hour this weekend, which means you'll get an extra hour of sleep – but when people leave work next week at 5 p.m. the sun will have already set.
"The internal biological clock takes cues from our environment. The sun. Our meals. The activities we do," said sleep doctor Zubin Bham with Yale New Haven Health and Bridgeport Hospital.
Sunday at 2 a.m. we are switching from daylight saving time to standard time. Bham says the switch is not good for our health. Some health groups, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine want to use standard time year-round. Doctors say the time change can affect people with depression or seasonal effective disorder.
"Standard time is actually better tolerated by the body…we actually fall back in synch with the suns natural cycle,” he said. “…Morning sunlight is actually what triggers your body to wake up and get started with our day."
Bham says people might see an “increase in people with cortisol or having stress hormones.”
Dr. Steven Thau, director of pulmonary medicine of Fairfield County at Hartford Healthcare, says we already live in a society where most people aren't getting enough sleep, and even that little extra sleep is important.
"It helps them keep their weight down by improving their metabolism. It controls their hunger, and it also gives them more energy so they're more motivated to do something," said Thau.
Doctors say daylight saving time has been associated with increased risk of arrythmia, heart attacks, strokes and poor judgement in decision making. We will go back to daylight saving time on March 8 when we turn the clocks ahead.
In the U.S., Arizona and Hawaii don't change and stay on standard time.
