Why your doctor hates you getting an extra hour of sleep

Less sunlight means more depression.

Everybody hates Daylight Saving Time when we lose an hour of sleep. Conversely, we like the return to Standard Time when we gain an extra hour of sleep. But there's at least one group that hates both in equal measure -doctors. According to doctors, time changes are dangerous and disruptive and we may need to end them as a public health measure.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Daylight saving time brings a risk of stroke and accident as people go about their day missing an hour of sleep. On the other end of the spectrum, the return to standard time which means an extra hour of sleep also means an additional hour of darkness in the day. This leads to a spike in depression.

Doctors don't like time changes because people are more likely to be injured or suffer from health problems when their bodies are out of sync with their daily routine. One study showed cancer patients were 25 percent more likely to have a stoke following daylight saving time. People over 65 saw their risk of stroke rise by 20 percent.

Doctors say daylight saving is especially dangerous because many people are already sleep deprived. Adding another hour to their sleep deficit can cause them to go to work without adequate rest, making accidents more likely.

The return to standard time should help balance the effects of daylight saving time, but it doesn't. One major problem is that people don't use their extra hour for sleep.

Another problem is that people get one less hour of sunlight. Sunlight helps tell our brain to wake up and it produces chemicals which are essential to feelings of well being. Less sunlight means less wakefulness. Depression spikes.

Daylight saving time was originally conceived to help people enjoy an hour of sunlight in the evening for activities, particularly during the summer. However, the policy is ineffective in the winter when the days become short. Daylight saving time was officially implemented around World War I because it was believed to help people conserve energy. Research has called this assumption into doubt.

There is now a growing consensus that daylight saving time is unnecessary in our modern world with modern lighting and people who are awake all night anyway. Add the risk of health problems and daylight saving time becomes a liability. And nobody likes losing an hour of sleep, ever.

For now, there are no concrete plans to end daylight saving time, but there is a growing movement to do so.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'

Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online