The United States Senate recently unanimously passed a bipartisan bill known as the Sunshine Protection Act to make daylight saving time (DST) permanent, but the move may be more harmful to our health, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.
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Our circadian rhythm, healthy-livingknown as our “internal clocks,” are connected to the sun, but that is more in sync with permanent standard time, said Dr. Muhammad Adeel Rishi, pulmonologist and sleep physician at Indiana University.
Identify your triggers. Triggers vary by individual, but they may include certain people, places, things, foods (caffeine is often a culprit), activities, times of the year, or times of day.
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So when we advance our clocks one hour ahead, our internal clocks don’t adapt to the time difference, so daylight saving time is like “permanent social jet lag,” per the report.
The paper noted too much evening light has also been associated with an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer, but these studies don’t prove less light in the morning causes the chronic medical problems, only that the medical issues are linked to it.
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“Current evidence best supports the adoption of year-round standard time, which aligns best with human circadian biology and provides distinct benefits for public health and safety.”
Electric Time technician Dan LaMoore puts a clock hand onto a 1000-lb., 12-foot diameter clock constructed for a resort in Vietnam, Tuesday, March 9, 2021, in Medfield, Mass.
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
But “springing forward” does have some advantages that people enjoy, in part because the summer and spring evenings have more daylight, which are good for business and for some people’s social calendar, according to the report.
“Day after day of eating at the wrong time, being active at the wrong time, sleeping at the wrong time, build up” and can lead to long-term negative health consequences, says Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans, circadian researcher and consultant to the AASM’s public safety committee.
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One of the biggest objections to permanent DST is because the winter sun rises later, schoolchildren often will be walking to school in the dark, the Journal noted.
For example in certain parts of Indiana where the sun doesn’t rise after 9 a.m., Rishi warned: “You’re basically putting these kids two hours off from their circadian biology.”
UNITED STATES – MAY 26: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., walks to the Senate subway after a vote in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, May 26, 2021.
(Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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“Different members have articulated a different perspective. We’ll have to come to some consensus. We were unexpectedly sent this bill by the Senate. Now, we’re trying to absorb it,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), head of the House Democratic Caucus, told the Hill.
