Daylight Saving Time And Its Impacts

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The time to spring forward is here!

This year marks the 100th year for Daylight Saving Time and the 100th year our bodies have had to adjust to losing an hour of sleep.

The Daylight Saving tradition started back in 1918, as a way to conserve coal during World War I.

Springing forward to now, exactly 100 years later, our bodies are once again adjusting to the time change.

State Urgent Care Nurse Practitioner Kristi Robertson says research shows there are some health associated risks with Daylight Saving Time.

“When you go to a different time zone and you feel a little bit of jet-lagged, that type of thing. Also, research shows there is an increase on the Monday after, of heart attacks and strokes. Surprisingly enough, the next day, it goes right back down.”

Some may wonder how changing the clock an hour ahead could spring on a heart attack.

“What research shows, is it seems to be that people are stressed about worrying that they’re going to oversleep, they’re worried about it being Monday, and just that added stress can be enough to trigger one of those events.”

Robertson also says there seems to be an increase in car accidents the Monday after time changes.

“But then, research shows that after Monday, when people get more acclimated, it seems that the risk goes down because we have more daylight and people are driving a little bit safer.”

Although there are some negative health impacts with Daylight Saving Time, there are also some positive ones.

“When we fall back and we have more, you know, dark and less daylight, people tend to have more depression. When we spring forward, people tend to respond a whole lot better with mood.”

Robertson encourages everyone to use the extra hour of daylight to be productive as possible and to get more active.

She also suggests going to bed a little earlier this week to adjust to the time change.