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daylight saving time and health risks
the first monday that follows dst is full of woe
mar 11 2021
2 minute read
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while the majority of the world keeps its circadian rhythms stable, canadians must suffer through an archaic ritual full of woe every spring: daylight saving time.
the switch robs us of an hour of sleep, which can have some fairly serious health impacts. here’s a look sleep, springing forward, and out well-being.
you might have a heart attack
studies have shown an association between sleep and heart attacks. short (less than six hours) of sleep has been associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and even premature death. in particularly sensitive people, the hour of lost sleep may increase heart rate, blood pressure, stress levels and chemicals that promote inflammation.
an observational review completed by researchers at the university of ferrara looked at the literature on daylight saving time and heart attack and found seven studies, five in europe and two in the u.s, accounting for a total of 87,994 cases. all showed an association with an increased frequency of heart attack, with increases ranging from four to 29 per cent. three found a higher incidence of heart attacks on the monday after the time change.
or maybe a stroke
a study presented at the american academy of neurology’s annual meeting in vancouver in 2016 found the overall rate of hospital admissions for ischemic stroke — when a clot in the arteries blocks blood flow to the brain — was eight per cent higher during the first two days after a daylight saving time transition, compared to either two weeks before, or two weeks after the switch.
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you’re probably going to slack off — just don’t let your boss see
a study by penn state university researchers found the switch to daylight savings time increases that productivity draining endeavour known as cyberloafing — checking personal emails or visiting websites on work time. another study involved 96 undergrads fitted with electronic sleep monitors the night before their lab session. while watching a 42-minute, video-recorded lecture, students engaged in 8.4 more minutes of cyberloafing for every hour of interrupted sleep the night before.
watch out for cars
scientists have long suspected that the “spring forward” resulted in more fatal road crashes. basically, if you force most of an entire country to lose an hour of sleep, it follows that more cars than usual are going to be skidding into highway barriers.
don’t throw workplace health and safety out the window
a 2009 paper in the journal of the american psychological association found that, in the united states, an average of 2,649 days of work were lost every year due to injuries sustained because of daylight saving time-induced fatigue.
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