Watch time: 6 minutes
Summer time involves advancing clocks from 1 hour to spring and returning to the standard time in the fall, disturbing the alignment between the sleep -waking cycle and natural exposure to light. This change can have a negative impact on sleep health by reducing the total duration of sleep, modifying circadian rhythms and increasing sleep fragmentation. Research indicates that summer time to daylight contributes to higher sleep deprivation rates, especially in people with preexisting sleep disorders, and is associated with increased risks of metabolic, cardiovascular and cognitive disabilities.1 The transition is particularly difficult for people with rigid schedules, such as workers and students, who may find it difficult for prolonged circadian disalg off.
In collaboration with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), Neurology® Held a round table where sleep experts have shared their clinical perspectives on the health change health impacts as well as solutions. The panelists of this conversation included clinical psychologist Jennifer Martin, PhD, who is a professor of medicine at the UCLA and was recently the former president of AASM, neurologist and specialist in sleep medicine, Karin Johnson, MD, who is the coalition of the coalition for the permanent standard time and the vice-president of the Standor Dakota safeguard.
In this episode, sleep experts have examined the important consequences on the health of time changes, especially for vulnerable populations such as quarter -work workers, people with sleep disorders and low -income communities. They highlighted research connecting daylight time to the increase in the risk of cancer, heart disease and mental health problems while highlighting the advantages of standard time for the regulation of the circadian pace. Citing global examples and historical data, they argue that the maintenance of standard time could improve public health, improve the productivity of the workplace and reduce disparities in health results related to sleep.
Transcription published for more clarity.
Isabella Ciccone, MPH: It is interesting that you have all mentioned different types of groups of patients – adolescents against adults on the job market. Are there others who, in your opinion, undergo more pronounced disturbances with the changes of time?
Seema Khosla, MD, FCCP, Faasm: Maybe. I might offer the quarter workers.
Karin Johnson, MD: I think anyone who suffers from an underlying sleep disorder. So here – Yeah, sleep apnea, whoever is already in danger with his sleep health – they will be more affected.
Jennifer Martin, Phd: Yes, and I think, I mean, the work change working group is a really vulnerable group because they have such a tendency to be already deprived of sleep, which is a little more diapers on top is really a challenge. And I worked with patients who are changing workers – one of them actually called it “the dreaded change of time”. He was already in difficulty and tired, and, you know, trying to manage a family, put his children in school, and all these things, then that. So I think it’s in all areas. And as Dr. Johnson mentioned, people suffering from sleep apnea already have drowsiness and fatigue, as well as a number of daytime symptoms with which they are struggling. This simply amplifies these problems.
Karin Johnson, MD: This is why the AASM, the American Academy of Neurology, the chest, the American Medical Association – All these organizations have gathered and said that the data show not only that we must finish the change of time to eliminate the harms of the sharp switch, but that we must really end in favor of standard time. Because being more naturally aligned with this standard time, long -term health helps. And we now have data showing that if you are delayed – as with summer time – you have an increased risk of things like cancer, suicide, heart disease and obesity. Circadian rhythms are so important for all of our bodily functions. They affect each cell in our body. And if we are going at standard time, we can really get the advantages – we get the power of the sun that helps us to be healthy without even having to do anything right away. At present, we cause this damage that we can do nothing, and it’s just another layer of negative effects.
As we have talked about, there are populations that are more affected. This causes disparities – strong income people who tend to have previous jobs, people who are already deprived of sleep, people with medical problems. These are the people who have the most touches, and we could considerably improve their health, their well-being and their productivity at work. There are even data showing that children at school work better, which reduces higher SAT scores – when they are permanent standard. This came out of Indiana when they did. So we know that we can help people feel better, improve mood. There are a lot of false ideas – people think summer time because it is lighter at the end of the day, is better for mood. But studies show the opposite – he actually aggravates the mood. So we can really help all these problems by going to the standard time.
Seema Khosla, MD, FCCP, Faasm: It would be so charming that we could learn from what we have done in the past, right? We tried this – we tried it in the 1970s, and it had to last a few years. But then they recognized that these dark mornings in winter not only made children and adolescents more prone to depression, but that was also dangerous for them when they were waiting for the bus in the dark. They therefore had to end it before having planned it because of these discovered risks. Wouldn’t it be charming if we could simply learn about this and maybe decide: “okay, I think we all agree that we don’t like the switch, but maybe we could try permanent standard time.”
Karin Johnson, MD: This is what we have seen around the world. Mexico has just implemented permanent standard time and now remains with it. Russia has tried permanent summer summer time for about three years and found that it did not work, so they passed at permanent standard time. We have examples from the whole world – there is almost nowhere in a permanent daylight calendar. But around 70% of the world is actually at the standard time, and we know that it can work.
Seema Khosla, MD, FCCP, Faasm: We also know that there is a lot of pressures that our legislators face different lobbying groups with financial interests. We would just ask that they pay attention to health impacts – mental health, physical health. And we really want to emphasize that we have to abandon the summer time.
Karin Johnson, MD: I would say that there are growing data on how sleep affects productivity-labor and health of workforce, and guarantee that people are presented at work and are productive. There are therefore also economic reasons. If you want a healthy and productive workforce that appears at work, your business – which is most companies – should be in favor of standard time. Of course, some leisure and retail companies can benefit more from summer time. But for the majority of companies, this is not the case. Most people want their workers to be good, in good health and productive – and they are those who benefit from standard time.