Discussions we have had about Jet Lag and Circadian rhythms in general would not be complete without a comment on Daylight Savings Time (DST). The object to determine how damaging even a one hour time change can be? This exercise, in it’s way, also educational as to relative severity of some travel really is, and the real importance of understanding, overlooked by just about everyone, that crossing time zones can be! Circadian Rhythm Negatively Impacted by Daylight Savings?
There are two States that seem to be immune to the legal and legislative fiasco, and this is an accident of history, and that is Arizona and Hawaii. Hawaii no doubt because it is so far South, that the length of the day automatically does not vary that much, and they realized this in time to opt out! If one is right on the equator it is entirely immaterial!
It is generally accepted, that statistically, an incredible amount of harm, by way of accidents at the workplace and driving, befall our societies as a result of just the one hour time change. This one hour seems minuscule when we analyse our articles on Jet Lag. If you travel West…which is actually equivalent to the Fall one hour change, (the Spring Forward in the Spring is equivalent to traveling East!), the amount of time change seems so small when compared to say the three hours difference of flying from the West Coast to Hawaii. That Jet Lag can be really minimized with just the slight amount of preparation, that renders the three hours almost immaterial…unlike traveling East!
We are compelled to abide by the “Spring Forward” and “Fall Time Snooze” regimens. The sugar industry, keen to daylight Halloween as much as possible, were successful with lobbying, in delaying the Fall one hour extra darkness hammer, until after that crazy sugar blitz! and the date is now the first Sunday in November…all in the name of children’s safety!..forget about the health implications of pure sugar for children!
Jumping in and out of Daylight Savings Time is having dome degree of Jet Lag imposed on all of society, or much of the world, twice a year.
Origins with Mr. William Willett, an Englishman, successful back in 1908, by complaining about waste of daylight…but in Ontario, however lobbying England, ever a stodgy process, itself was too slow for him to see the actual implementation. World War 1 and 2 both brought in the process for emergency reasons, really each side copying each other and fearful the other might miss out…the Kaiser started it!
An interesting aspect is that sleep deprivation, even to a small degree, can have a negative cognitive effect…a graphic example from research done at the University of Washington that found judges who are handing down sentences affected. On the Monday, following DST every spring, longer sentences are imposed on those found guilty. Researchers took into account other factors that may impact a judge’s decision, but continued to find a statistically significant difference on the Monday after DST. Lead researcher Kyoungmin Cho, of the University of Washington, commented on the results, and how they may be extrapolated to other authority figures. For instance run that gambit in your mind…teachers, bureaucrats, coaches, employers, the list is frightening! Almost worth booking off for the entire week in the Spring! Circadian Rhythm Negatively Impacted by Daylight Savings?
The mess much of the world is now in seems based on a faulty concept of saving energy, and DST instead, overall seems to be an ongoing cyclical risk to public health! I predict it will one day be abolished! But maybe we can use Acupuncture even for just this one hour time change! Circadian Rhythm Negatively Impacted by Daylight Savings?
