Can Daylight Savings Time Affect Your Health?

It may sound like a crazy idea but believe it or not, there are studies that prove that many people run the risk of having a heart attack simply by making the transition through daylight savings time. The average sleep period for someone working in Western civilization has dropped from 9 hours to 7.5 over this century and we’re all feeling the effects of that. The study also found that people are more likely to have heart problems during the spring transition because of a lack of hours to sleep.

Heart Troubles and Daylight Savings Time

The study found that the chrono-biological rhythms of the body can be adversely affected by the subsequent lack of quality sleep during the shift period. More than 1.5 billion people are at higher risk of having some form of heart trouble during this period of time. The study also found that the effects can last for a few days after the transition as well with the risk danger dropping over that period. The incidence of acute myocardial infarction rose significantly for the first three weekdays after the spring transition to daylight savings time.

Seasonal Differences between Men and Women for Health Effects

In the spring, it was found that women were more vulnerable to having heart problems while the fall transition period seemed to be harder on men. Interestingly, the health effects of the transitions were more pronounced in people under the age of 65 than for those 65 years and older. This figure may have something to do with the fact that many people work at their jobs until well into their 60s and have all the stress that goes along with that to get up for every day.

As would be expected, the transition from weekend to weekdays is when the highest incidence of heart problems occurs. There are more incidences of heart attacks on Monday morning than on any other day of the week. The study pointed out that learning to go to bed earlier and get more quality sleep during the night, may be the best thing we can do to lower our risk of heart attacks during daylight savings time.