Here’s why DST was created in the first place and what we now know about its health effects.

What is the purpose of DST?

Daylight saving time was originally devised as a way to conserve energy at night and was introduced in Germany during World War I.

Currently, about a third of the world participates in the twice-yearly watch-changing ritual, and most of those countries are in Europe.

Not everyone in the United States follows DST. Hawaii and Arizona ignore this and use standard time year-round. These states argued that shifting your clocks doesn’t make much sense if you live near the equator, where the sun rises and sets at roughly the same time every day.

So does it save energy?

Recent studies show that you probably won’t save many megawatts of power, and it could be costly. Indiana did not implement DST until 2006. One study found that people spent $7 million more annually on electricity after making the switch than before. Another study found that workers’ work productivity decreased when DST began.

But there is some evidence that, at least in certain climates, extra light at night can reduce crime and give people more time to exercise outdoors.

Increase in heart attacks and strokes

Every year, hospitals report a 24% spike in heart attack visits across the United States on the Monday after DST takes effect.

Is it just a coincidence? Probably not. Doctors observe the opposite trend every fall. The day after turning back the clock, heart attack visits are reduced by 21% because many people are taking a little more time on their pillows.

In Finland, researchers found an 8% increase in ischemic strokes in the two days after clocks were set forward.

It’s not clear exactly why this happens, but researchers believe it may be a combination of sleep disturbances, early-week stress, and underlying medical conditions.

“The human body is so fragile and susceptible to just one hour of sleep deprivation,” sleep expert Matthew Walker, author of How We Sleep, previously told Business Insider. .

disrupts our natural hormonal cycles

The reason why setting our clocks forward is bad for us is because it disrupts our sleep schedules.

This Sunday, March 10th, instead of clocks advancing from 1:59 a.m. to 2 a.m. as usual, clocks will skip an hour and advance to 3 a.m. Researchers have found that our sleep is 40 estimated to be lost Because the clock changes.

Experts say the problem is bigger than just a night of sleep deprivation. Over the next few months, mornings will become even darker as we sacrifice morning light in exchange for longer nights.

The human body has its own internal clock, or “circadian rhythm,” which operates in sync with the rest of the outside world. When exposed to sunlight, our bodies release hormones that wake us up, speed up our metabolism, trigger digestion and hunger, and ensure we have energy to function during the day. In the evening, our bodies release melatonin, a hormone that makes us sleepy. This is also the time when our bodies release growth hormones, memory consolidates, and our body temperature drops to conserve energy.

The Sleep Research Association says that waking up in the dark to start the day disrupts our bodies’ natural hormone production, and when this switch is triggered once a year, it can lead to obesity, diabetes, mood disorders, and cardiovascular problems. problems, which could increase the risk of life-threatening accidents. . One study found that DST may lead to a temporary increase in suicides. (This is why sleep medicine experts are also calling for an end to night shifts.)

In a statement calling for an end to daylight saving time, the American Medical Association said it could take months for our bodies to adjust to the new sleep cycle.

Increase in car accidents

We also tend to make more fatal mistakes on the road. A study of more than 700,000 car accidents from the mid-1990s to 2017 found that accidents increased by 6% in the week after DST took effect.

Researchers speculate that this is partly due to lack of sleep among drivers and pedestrians, as well as a lack of visibility in the dark.

Daylight saving time also increases reports of workplace injuries, the study found.

Some lawmakers want permanent DST, while others want standard time year-round

The political debate over DST is intense, unscientific, and deeply polarizing.

At least 20 states have passed or are considering permanent daylight saving time legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. And just as many states are considering legislation to eliminate DST and move to permanent standard time. There’s a nasty overlap here. Twelve states have introduced legislation that considers both approaches. Many states have legislation that would allow them to switch whenever a neighboring state is broadcasting.

California is a unique case. In the 2018 midterm elections, voters chose to eliminate annual clock changes and permanently implement daylight saving time. In recent months, lawmakers opposed to DST have introduced legislation to make the transition to standard time permanent, which would not require government approval.

While switching to permanent DST requires authorization from Congress, states do not need federal approval to switch to permanent standard time.

The federal government considered permanent DST in 2022. In fact, the Sunshine Protection Act, introduced by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, passed unanimously in the Senate but stalled in the House.

Health and sleep experts were relieved. They said the entire country should follow the lead of Hawaii and Arizona, and wondered whether Mr. Rubio and his colleagues had misunderstood which time system was better.

“When I saw this, I was kind of ‘dumb’ about it,” Dr. Akinbolaji Akingbola, a sleep expert at the University of Minnesota Medical School, told Business Insider. “We’re all pretty clear that standard time is the better choice.”