Changing times: This could be the nation’s last ‘fall back’
Courtesy of Stephanie Wagoner
Dr. Trajan Barrera, a family care physician for Washington Health System, says health data supports a permanent switch to either daylight saving or standard time. Barrera and other doctors, including sleep experts, have found falling back and springing forward disrupt the body’s natural rhythms and can increase risk for heart attacks, auto immune issues and hospital admissions.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
In 1883, the U.S. and Canadian railroads did away with about 100 conflicting local “sun times” and established four time zones. It wasn’t until 1966 that the U.S. adopted daylight saving time.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
In November, we turn back the clocks and enter standard time, which doctors say is closer to the body’s natural circadian rhythms. If the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 passes, the U.S. could adopt standard time permanently, making this Nov. 6 the last time we fall back.
Sunday marks the end of daylight saving time and, if an act presented to Congress is passed, it may be the last time the nation “falls back” into standard time.
Last year, Florida senators Marco Rubio and Vern Buchanan introduced the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 to the Senate, where it passed unanimously. For months, the act has lived in limbo in the House of Representatives, where legislators are debating which time – daylight saving or standard – to officially adopt. But if the act makes it through the House and onto President Joe Biden’s desk by early next year, this Nov. 6 would be the last time we turn back the clocks.
And more than eliciting fist-pumps from Americans who run an hour late one Sunday in March (thanks, spring forward!) or, despite loving the extra hour of sleep, grumble about falling back each November, eliminating DST might just be good for our collective health.
“Doctors and scientists, we don’t see a lot of benefits from changing people’s clocks. We see a lot of risks,” said Dr. Trajan Barrera, an osteopathic physician who serves as a family care provider at Washington Health System’s Cecil location. “There are two states that did away with it, Arizona and Hawaii. Only 60% of the countries across the world use (daylight saving time). It’s not medically necessary. It may even be harmful. The data seems pretty compelling that the switch is what gets us around every spring and fall.”
Data shows the switch – moving the clocks an hour ahead, into daylight saving time, or back, into standard time – comes with increased medical issues nationwide.
Longitudinal studies (studies without control groups, where researchers observe and collect data without influencing variables) show a 25% increase in risk for heart attacks nationwide around the time of a clock change. Most studies, Barrera noted, focus on the health impacts of springing forward, but the data holds up nationally when we fall back.
In March, when folks nationwide rolled out of bed and into daylight saving time, there was an 11% increase in depression, along with increased reports of autoimmune disease symptoms. Locally, Barrera said, fatal car accidents spiked 6% and stroke rates increased 8%.
“In fall of last year, from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, there were 139 admissions per day. The week after Nov. 7, there were 146 admissions per day,” he said, noting clocks turned back on Nov. 7.
But why, exactly, do our bodies react to something as seemingly simple as a time change?
Sleep science is still an emerging field, but Barrera said there are two basic processes that govern sleep and sleep health. Sleep homeostasis is, essentially, the principle that the longer one is awake and active, the more tired that individual becomes. The circadian rhythm is a natural 24-hour cycle that regulates when a person needs sleep, and how much sleep they ought to get based on how long they’ve been awake.
“Sleep should, as far as we know, be regimented,” said Barrera.
Our natural cycles are thrown off by a clock change, and though an hour more or less of sleep here and there may not sound like a big deal, it adds up.
“Sleep is critical for so many aspects of our health and wellness. It affects our immune system, it impacts our memory, it actually affects how our genes (function),” said Dr. Sean Coyne, a biopsychologist and assistant professor of psychology at Washington & Jefferson College. “In the grand scheme of things, one hour isn’t that huge of a deal. It does put a temporary shock on our system. Stress damage to your body is cumulative. The fact that we go through this twice a year is going to build up over a lifetime.”
The thing is, the changing of the clocks isn’t necessary for health, nor is it a rich tradition. In fact, daylight saving time is, in a way, a modern invention.
The idea was first proposed by Benjamin Franklin, who in 1784 submitted a satirical letter to The Journal of Paris suggesting rising earlier in summer would allow candles to burn longer. A New Zealender named George Hudson flirted with the idea of turning clocks back two hours each spring, and in 1907 William Willett, of Britain, proposed daylight saving time would save energy.
Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada, instituted daylight saving time in 1908. But it wasn’t until Germany implemented daylight saving time in 1916 (perhaps, some historians say, to gain a military advantage over the Allies) that clock-changing really hit the mainstream, and it would be another 50 years before the U.S. adopted the practice.
In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, making it mandatory for all states to observe DST and to turn the clocks appropriately, and at the same time, on a set date.
Today, in a more globalized world with phones that automatically update when we cross into different time zones or, yes, turn the clocks back, daylight saving time is a charming but rather out-of-time tradition that mainly leaves us feeling out of sorts in the days following a change.
“We actually depend on sunlight to regulate our biological clock,” said Coyne. “(Falling back) is sort of shifting our biological clock. Your body starts producing all the things to tell you it’s bedtime.”
For the best sleep any time of year, Barrera recommends adults get between seven and nine hours of shut-eye each night.
“The body craves routine. One thing you want to do is keep a sleep routine,” he said. “Go to sleep at a predictable time. Turn off your devices an hour before bed – the blue light tricks your mind into thinking it’s still daylight. Get the curtain open in the morning to get daylight in.”
Barrera also recommends limiting sleep-disrupting substances before bed. Don’t drink caffeine late into the afternoon, he said, and try to finish hydrating at least an hour before bed. If able, exercise in the morning.
While folks prepare to metaphorically wind back the clocks, Congress is working to make this the last time we fall back, and many legislators hope to spring forward, and stay there, come March.
“This isn’t a partisan or regional issue, it is a commonsense issue,” Rubio said in an emailed statement. “States all around the country are passing laws to make DST permanent, but Washington, D.C., needs to act.”
Barrera and Coyne agree that doing away with all the time changing might not be such a bad thing.
“As far as we know, the standard time we’re about to go into is closer to our circadian rhythm,” said Barrera. “(Doctors and scientists) think that the standard time would be better. We would like more time to study it.”
Added Coyne: “I think it would help us, certainly, by not springing ahead an hour. I think we would see benefits as a society.”