(NEXSTAR) – If you already dread changing the clocks, a new study from sleep researchers at Stanford Medicine may have you researching a move to Hawaii or Arizona, the two states that do not observe daylight saving time.
While data has long tied daylight saving time to annual jumps in heart attacks and car crashes, for instance, the study puts the potential health consequences of the current time policy in real numbers.
Models showed that switching to permanent standard time, for instance, would result in some 2.6 million fewer people diagnosed with obesity, and roughly 300,000 fewer stroke cases annually. Permanently shifting to daylight saving time – meaning that we wouldn’t turn our clocks back on Nov. 2 – would have roughly two-thirds of the same benefits, according to the study.
Lead author Lara Weed, a graduate student in bioengineering, says the study used the latest circadian models paired with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that the vast majority of U.S. states have actually opted for the worst of the three major time policies when it comes to America’s health.
“We found that staying in standard time or staying in daylight saving time is definitely better than switching twice a year,” Dr. Jamie Zeitzer, senior author and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, said in a Stanford news article.
The two main alternatives to our current system seem to be discussed every time we near the start or end of daylight saving time. A bill proposed by Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott would make daylight saving time permanent.
“Americans are sick and tired of changing their clocks twice a year — it’s an unnecessary, decades-old practice that’s more of an annoyance to families than a benefit to them,” Scott said while introducing the Sunshine Protection Act.
Meantime, the National Sleep Foundation has long called for standard time to become permanent, saying in a news release: “DST essentially fights the natural order of our circadian rhythms, the natural sleep/wake process in our bodies. Our circadian rhythms rely on bright natural light in the morning to wake us up and to synchronize important biological processes, and dimmer light in the evening to make us sleepy and ready for bed. It’s unhealthy to alter our bodies’ sleep schedule to have more daylight hours in the evening.”
Weed and Zeitzer both noted that the study, which approaches the data from a circadian health standpoint, may not capture economic, safety and other factors. The models also used consistent sleep habits and outdoor hours, which aren’t always possible.
“People’s light habits are probably much worse than what we assume in the models,” Zeitzer said. “Even in California, where the weather is great, people spend less than 5% of their day outside.”
What is circadian rhythm?
The brain has a master clock that is set by exposure to sunlight and darkness. This circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle that determines when we become sleepy and when we’re more alert. The patterns change with age, one reason that early-to-rise youngsters evolve into hard-to-wake teens.
Morning light resets the rhythm. By evening, levels of a hormone called melatonin begin to surge, triggering drowsiness. Too much light in the evening — that extra hour from daylight saving time — delays that surge and the cycle gets out of sync.
Sleep deprivation is linked to heart disease, cognitive decline, obesity and numerous other problems. And that circadian clock affects more than sleep, also influencing things like heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormones and metabolism.
The next time change will be on Nov. 2, 2025, when we fall back at 2 a.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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