It’s called the “spring forward” and it’s the kickoff of Daylight Savings time (DST) here in the United States of America.
According to National Geographic, about 70 countries practice DST. It was initially implemented in Port Arthur, Ontario in 1908 but it’s biggest implementation came in Germany during World War I, 1916. We’ve come a long way since then and recent research has put a strain on our century-old habit of playing with the clocks. A 2022 bill pushed to make Daylight Savings Time the permanent measure of time in the United States of America.
Meet the Bill: It Had Promise
They called it the Sunshine Protection Act of 2022. It passed with unanimous votes in the Senate. There’s been heavy discussion about the cause & effect of making such a change. Conversation about what it can do to our bodies and the benefits (& negatives) of both standard and daylight savings time changes. If you ask me, the problem is in the changes, in general.
You see, many researchers are critical of Daylight Savings because of what it does to the circadian rhythm. “Daylight saving time feels kind of like jetlag from traveling across time zones,” Dr. Angela Holliday-Bell told ABC News last month. She’s a pediatrician and certified clinical sleep specialist. “Your body needs time to readjust to a new light/dark cycle, so it can be hard on the body and hard on sleep,” Holliday-Bell continued. That ‘cycle’ she refers to is the Circadian Rhythm. “It dictates all the processes that occur in your body — including sleep, wake and digestion,” said Holliday-Bell. Even the immune system is controlled by your circadian rhythm, meaning “when you lose an hour, you’re losing some immune function as well,” she explains.
That, and Other Dangers
DST is considered a ‘deadly weekend’ by many experts because of the strain that losing an hour of sleep puts on us. Many point to the uptick in deadly car wrecks as evidence of how abrasive the change can be. Others focus on the risks of heart attack, stroke, and other complications during the weekend of spring forward. “According to the American Heart Association, in addition to the fatigue, the transition can also affect your heart and brain. Hospital admissions for an irregular heartbeat pattern known as atrial fibrillation, as well as heart attacks and strokes, increase in the first few days of daylight saving time,” writes Dr. Acholonu for ABC News.
It’s worth noting that this charade with our circadian rhythm could be the actual issue – not DST itself. Let’s explore what a permanent Daylight Savings Time could spell for us and then decide if it’s something we need, let alone want.
An episode from the Brian’s World podcast.