Daylight Savings Time: A Killer?

So here we are again… We all set reset our clocks this weekend (like clockwork…sorry couldn’t resist) to comply with the winter portion of Daylight Savings Time. Daylight Savings Time has, from the time of it’s conception, been an issue of debate.

The idea, while based on good intentions, has long been touted by opponents as counterproductive. A new study, based out of Sweden may have dealt another blow to the practice of Daylight Savings Time.

Scientist at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have looked at the incidence of Heart Attacks since the implementation of Daylight Savings Time in 1987 (When Sweden began the practice).

During their study they have found that the incidence of heart attacks goes up during the first week of summer (When we set our clocks forward) by as much as 5 percent. One of the Researchers involved in the study, Dr Imre Janszky, said “The disruption in the chronobiological rhythms, the loss of one hour’s sleep and the resulting sleep disturbance are the probable causes.”

Conversely, the study also gave evidence that the reset to “winter time” (what we just did this weekend) caused “heart attack” incidence to go down.

This study also helped support the reason why most heart attacks happen on Monday mornings. Most people in the medical community believed that it had something to do with facing stress of the upcoming work week, but this may prove that it has to do with the change in sleep rhythms between the weekend and the work week.

[via Science Daily]

So I want to ask our readers:

Do you think that Daylight Savings Time still serves a purpose or is it become an outdated (and even dangerous) practice?

Dr. Ben Adkins

Tags: daylight savings time, health, heart attacks, myocardial infarction, setting the clock back