Daylight-Saving Time - A Health Hazard?

As if we didn't have enough to worry about, a 2008 study shows that daylight-saving time may be unhealthy for us. Researchers in Australia found that the number of male suicides increased in the weeks following daylight-saving time. The good news is that other research doesn't show any negative impact on our health. So which is it? Is daylight-saving time healthy or unhealthy? We just don't know. We do know is that people's bodies continue to follow the cycle of the sun for several weeks even though clock time has changed; but what this means to overall health has not been examined thoroughly.

The Australian study examined data from 1971 to 2001 looking at the suicide rate in the weeks following daylight-saving time. They found that the male suicide rate increased after the shift. Researchers believe that the shift in daily rhythms could put people at high risk for suicide in greater danger. Another study examined data on hospital admissions in Finland from 1987 to 2003. They found that there was no increase after daylight-saving time in accident and manic episodes (both conditions which can be related to sleep/fatigue).

What should you do to protect your sleep in the weeks after daylight-saving time? Just follow good sleep habits. After the clock change, wake-up at the same time every day, try to get as much exposure to sunlight early in the morning to help reset your clock, and try to get between seven and nine hours of sleep each night. More Sleep Tips.

_Sources:

Tuuli A Lahti, Jari Haukka, Jouko Lonnqvist and Timo Partonen. Daylight saving time transitions and hospital treatments due to accidents or manic episodes. BMC Public Health 2008, 8:74.

Michael BERK, Seetal DODD, Karen HALLAM, Lesley BERK, John GLEESON, Margaret HENRY (2008) Small shifts in diurnal rhythms are associated with an increase in suicide: The effect of daylight saving Sleep and Biological Rhythms 6 (1) , 22–25.