Switching to daylight saving time twice a year can be harmful to health

Austin, Texas – If you are feeling a little tired tonight, you are not alone.

After all, we lost an hour of sleep when we switched to daylight saving time early Sunday morning, but did you know that changing clocks can actually take a toll on our health?

We’ve been doing this for decades, advancing sharply in March and then backtracking in November. Dr. Ryan McCorkle, an emergency physician at St. David’s Medical Center, says that constantly gaining and losing an hour is not exactly the best thing for our health.

“It seems unnecessary to put everyone through this twice a year,” Dr. McCorkle said. “Your blood pressure, your diabetes, your mental health, all of those things are affected. Whenever we change our sleep patterns, we get out of our circadian rhythms. So daylight saving time has a lot to do with it.”

Studies show that the number of fatal crashes in Texas tends to increase immediately after the time change, likely due to drowsy drivers. In addition, the AARP study found a 24 percent spike in heart attacks on Monday after DST, as well as an 8 percent increase in strokes.

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Dr. McCorkle says people with certain pre-existing medical conditions should be especially careful.

“The four that I would name most are hypertension, diabetes, anxiety and depression,” Dr. McCorkle said. “Control your blood pressure, control your blood sugar, stay hydrated, try to avoid sleep disturbances as much as possible.”

In light of all this, state and federal lawmakers are pushing to get rid of the time change. Rep. Vicki Goodwin (D-Austin) has introduced a bill giving voters the choice to observe “standard time” or “daylight saving time” all year round, and there is legislation in Congress that would make daylight savings time permanent.

“Certainly I would advocate for it,” Dr. McCorkle said. “Twice a year I think about taking people’s systems offline for something that seems pretty mysterious. good reason.”

Although some experts have expressed concern that changing daylight savings time to a constant value could also lead to negative health effects. Others point out that sunrise will be very late in winter, creating potential safety issues for children on their way to school.