It’s that time of year again — when we ‘spring forward’ and lose an hour of sleep.
Daylight saving time begins Sunday at 2 a.m.
MU Health Care sleep specialist Dr. Margaret Mike told Missourinet that the time change tends to make everyone a little sleepier.
“And when we shift the clocks, the problem is we’re changing the time we go to bed and the time we get up, but our internal clock doesn’t shift readily,” said Mike.
Dr. Mike said those first few weeks can actually bring some real health risks.
“There’s actually a 3% increase in deaths related to strokes, MI (heart attack), and atrial fibrillation,” said Mike. “These are things that are not seen with the fall change back to standard time.”
Dr. Mike told Missourinet that darker mornings can impact mood, increase safety risks, and more.
“It’s harder to be fully alert in the morning in the first few hours,” said Mike. “That can affect performance at work. Attention and learning at school, we essentially pull ourselves into going to bed an hour earlier and getting up an hour earlier so that we’ll have an extra hour of light. We have the same amount of light.”
Dr. Mike said it’s not just the amount of light that matters — it’s when you experience it during the day.
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