Dr. James Warnock is a cardiologist at Baptist Health in Jackson and is a board member of the American Heart Association.
“Obviously, there's something about daylight saving that makes a difference,” he said. “It’s most likely related to the effect on sleep and that loss of sleep, because we know that sleep is such an important part of cardiovascular health.”
Warnock says researchers have begun to examine the impact daylight saving time has on the body.
“There was a study done of patients in Michigan and hospital admissions for heart attack the Monday after daylight saving began,” he said. “That risk was 24% higher than what it was on other days.”
Another study done in Finland collected data for over a decade, which showed an eight percent increase in ischemic strokes the Monday after daylight saving time. Warnock believes these changes are likely to only affect people with cardiac risk factors.
“A totally healthy person is very unlikely to have a heart attack just related to daylight saving,” he said. “If you have high blood pressure, you’re a smoker or you’re diabetic, you have a history of heart disease, all those things, it would certainly increase your risk quite a bit.”
NPR reported that there are more car accidents, suicides and fatal overdoses in the days following daylight saving time. The change can also trigger migraines for some people.
There are also risks associated with sleep deprivation, including obesity, hypertension and diabetes.
“People have sleep disordered breathing, have problems with atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular heart rhythm,” Warnock said. “There's just a myriad of different things that poor sleep can affect your health.”
Daylight saving time can disrupt the body’s circadian rhythm, which helps to regulate metabolism, body temperature, emotions, aspects of cognition andsome hormones.
There are several recommendations that people can do to make the switch to daylight saving time easier and healthier.
“That's controlling your blood pressure, controlling your cholesterol, maintaining a healthy body weight, exercise,” Warnock said. “Avoid cigarette smoking, heart healthy diet, control your blood sugar and then sleep.”
Experts say it may take a week, or longer, to adjust to daylight saving time. Walking, getting light first thing in the morning and eating a heart healthy diet can help a body to adjust. In the meantime, Warnock says not to compensate with extra caffeine.
“Probably up to four cups a day is reasonable and not going to affect your health,” he said.
