Sunday morning, I could feel the reason why Bill Meyer (on the Bill Meyer Show, 6:00-9:00 AM holidays, 1440 KMED Medford, KMED.com) had told us “federally introduced heart attack day” on Friday. When my youngest daughter woke me up for her to work at 3:30 AM that suddenly 4:30 AM, my heart raced and my blood rushed; I had to sit down for a few minutes and the hot flash subsided. I forgot the time change was two weeks earlier than it used to be.
The paper was telling us about a Swedish study that found heart attack increased by about 10% on the Monday after us. they ‘jump’ in the spring, and similarly fall back after us. Newsmax Health tells us that a 2012 study at two Michigan hospitals over 6 years showed a whopping 55% increase in heart attacks on Sundays after the spring shift. Web MD looked at a Swedish study and said that the number of heart attacks rose by 5% three days after the spring change, and more for women than for men.
But it’s time to end the nonsense. It does not keep the light; nothing can It only shifts our schedules an hour earlier so that the sun remains later on the clock. This is supposed to save energy by lighting our other homes, but I doubt it because it makes people stay up late how else, watching TV and other entertainment, such as sports and outdoor concerts.
It’s hard to fall asleep when it’s light outside, and DST deprives us of the sleep we would otherwise like. to lose the long summer days. This affects middle latitudes more than others, as people in the far north, such as Alaska and Sweden, use heavy curtains and even allow shutters on their windows to sleep with midnight sun, and southern latitudes naturally have shorter summer days. This may allow some differences between the Michigan and Swedish studies, which are in the middle of Michigan.
DST is said to increase sales and viewing of sports. But this is clear to us in health and products. The second biggest expense shown on Sleep Better.org was cyber-surfing on the clock, probably because it’s hard to concentrate on work when you’re short on sleep.
My daughter says to stop DST. She is trying to get her son on a regular schedule, but the sudden change in hours doesn’t help one bit. And it won’t help her sleep when the new baby comes. Mothers of children going to school have a similar problem.
DST was started in WWI to save energy. So since we didn’t have a TV, we would do well. This has continued to help retailers and customers in our struggling economy. But the Baby Boomers are getting older, and we need sleep. I would like to watch the torches again, but for me these days they are going later, when they are in the dark.
