Daylight-saving time this year begins March 11, and while we all might
look forward to another hour of sunshine a University of Alabama at
Birmingham expert says the time change is not necessarily good for your
health.
"The Monday and Tuesday after moving the clocks ahead one hour in
March is associated with a 10 percent increase in the risk of having a
heart attack," says UAB Associate Professor Martin Young, Ph.D., in the
Division of Cardiovascular Disease. "The opposite is true when falling
back in October. This risk decreases by about 10 percent."
The Sunday morning of the time change doesn't require an abrupt
schedule change, but, Young says, heart-attack risk peaks on Monday when
most people rise earlier to go to work.
"Exactly why this happens is not known but there are several
theories," Young says. "Sleep deprivation, the body's circadian clock
and immune responses all can come into play when considering reasons
that changing the time by an hour can be detrimental to someone's
health."
Why is daylight-saving time tied to these? Young says:
- Sleep deprivation
"Individuals who are sleep-deprived weigh more and are at an
increased risk of developing diabetes or heart disease. Sleep
deprivation also can alter other body processes, including inflammatory
response, which can contribute to a heart attack. And, your reaction to
sleep deprivation and the time change also depends on whether you are a
morning person or night owl. Night owls have a much more difficult time
with springing forward."
- Circadian clock
"Every cell in the body has its own clock that allows it to
anticipate when something is going to happen and prepare for it. When
there is a shift in one's environment, such as springing forward, it
takes a while for the cells to readjust. It's comparable to knowing that
you have a meeting at 2 p.m. and having time to prepare your
presentation instead of being told at the last minute and not being able
to prepare. The internal clocks in each cell can prepare it for stress
or a stimulus. When time moves forward, cell clocks are anticipating
another hour to sleep that they won't get, and the negative impact of
the stress worsens; it has a much more detrimental effect on the body."
- Immune function
"Immune cells have a clock, and the immune response depends greatly
on the time of day. In animal studies, when a mouse is given a
sub-lethal dose of LPS, an endotoxin that elicits strong immune
responses in animals, the mouse's survival depends upon the time of day
they were given this endotoxin. Mice that were put through a phased
advance much like Daylight Savings Time, and then had a challenge to
their immune system, died, whereas the control animals that were not
subjected to a phased advance survive when given the same dose of LPS,
showing how an acute time change can be detrimental to the immune system
response."
Luckily, the body's clock eventually synchs with the environment,
Young says. While some researchers are examining strategies to help the
body resynch to time changes more rapidly, including pharmaceuticals to
cure states like jet lag, he advocates a natural approach that eases
your body into the adjustment.
Young suggests:
Wake up 30 minutes earlier on Saturday and Sunday than you need to in
preparation for the early start on Monday Eat a decent-sized breakfast
Go outside in the sunlight in the early morning Exercise in the mornings
over the weekend (as long as you do not have pre-existing heart
disease)
"Doing all of this will help reset both the central, or master, clock
in the brain that reacts to changes in light/dark cycles, and the
peripheral clocks -- the ones everywhere else including the one in the
heart -- that react to food intake and physical activity. This will
enable your body to naturally synch with the change in the environment,
which may lessen your chance of adverse health issues on Monday."
He added that while melatonin can certainly influence sleep/wake
cycles, and some people respond well to it and use it for jet lag, it
does not necessarily work for everyone.
"For this one-hour time shift, I prefer the natural solution when possible."
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Alabama at Birmingham, via Newswise. The original article was written by Jennifer Lollar.
Courtesy: ScienceDaily
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