According to American Heart Association, losing an hour of much-needed sleep may not be the only thing to dread about “springing forward” when clocks move up for daylight saving time later this month.
The upcoming time change may also negatively impact your heart and brain health.
The concept of daylight saving time describes the practice of setting clocks forward one hour from standard time during the transition to the summer months in order to extend the practical use of natural daylight.
This year, daylight saving time begins on Sunday, March 13.
Many scientific studies report an increase in the incidence of heart disease and stroke during this time transition.
One previous study reported that hospital admissions for atrial fibrillation (AFib), the most common type of irregular heartbeat, rise with daylight saving time transition.
Researchers found that on the Monday to Thursday following the start of the time transition in the spring there were 3.13 AFib hospital admissions a day compared to 2.56 daily admissions for the same days on average over the rest of the year.
There was no notable difference in AFib admissions for the Monday to Thursday following the autumn transition at the end of daylight saving time.
Another study shows that the Monday following the springtime change (after losing an hour of sleep) was associated with a 24% increase in daily heart attack counts.
The Tuesday following the fall time change (gaining an hour of sleep) was conversely associated with a 21% reduction in heart attacks,
Stroke rates also increase with the change to daylight saving time.
In a study from Finland, researchers found that the overall rate of ischemic stroke was 8% percent higher during the first two days after a daylight saving time transition.
It’s possible that the increase of heart disease and stroke cases during the daylight saving time change is due to the disruption to the body’s internal clock, or its circadian rhythm.
If you have at risk of heart disease or stroke, here are some suggestions from AHA:
Start now getting as much light as possible each day. This can help adjust your body rhythm for the change to come.
Start winding down a little earlier in the evenings ahead. While you can never make up lost sleep, going into the time change well-rested can help.
Don’t compensate with extra caffeine. It may feel like an extra coffee or two can help you through the mid-day slump, but too much caffeine is not heart-healthy.
Don’t take a nap. Most people don’t get enough sleep at any time; adding a cat nap to your afternoon can make it even harder to sleep well that night.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about eating whole eggs bad for heart health and findings of vitamin that can prevent muscle damage after heart attack.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about people who don’t do this may have instant death from heart attack, and results showing that doing exercise this way may strongly benefit your heart health.
