Many people dread turning the clocks back an hour in winter – but persuade themselves that at the least they'll get an additional hour of sleep. However, in my A new study My colleagues and I actually have found that the majority people don't (or can't) reap the benefits of a complete extra hour of sleep in the autumn.
Daylight saving time is practiced. Moving the clocks One hour forward in spring and one hour back in autumn. It was introduced throughout the First World War as a strategy to reduce energy costs. I'm working. About 70 countries and affects 1 / 4 of the world's population.
This “spring forward” and “fall back” is widely regarded as a lack of one hour of sleep within the spring and a gain of 1 hour of sleep in the autumn. nonetheless, Research shows After each clock changes we are able to lose sleep for about per week as we struggle to regulate to the brand new time.
Previous studies have relied on people reporting their very own sleep patterns. Diary or survey. However, this will not be accurate because people sometimes forget or lie about how long they sleep. Recent research has overcome this problem. Using the Activity Monitor To record people's sleep at clock changes. But to date researchers have only been capable of do that in a small number of individuals.
Our recent research explores the consequences of clock changes on sleep duration in numerous individuals who UK Biobank. It is a research database containing lifestyle and health information from half 1,000,000 UK participants. We analyzed sleep data from 11,800 individuals who wore activity monitors for a number of days throughout the two weeks surrounding the spring and fall clock changes in 2013-2015.
Lizavita/Shutterstock
We found that individuals only slept half an hour more on fall clock change Sundays than on surrounding Sundays. But people slept about an hour lower than the Sunday of the spring clock change.
Previous research suggests that individuals Sleep less on weekdays. Before the weekdays immediately following the clock change. In contrast, this study found that, overall, people were getting more sleep after each clock changes from Monday to Friday. This trend was strengthened within the spring when people lost an hour of sleep. On average, people slept seven minutes more each weekday night after the spring time change and three minutes more each weekday night after the autumn time change.
This suggests that the consequences of clock changes on sleep duration are more short-lived than previous studies have suggested. However, after we broke down the information, we found that this pattern of sleep capture was not seen in women. In fact, women often slept less on weekdays after the clock change. This stands out as the reason. Women experience higher levels Insomnia and sleep difficulties and that these problems are exacerbated by clock changes. Women are thought to struggle more with insomnia than men. Number of reasonsincluding hormonal fluctuations, social aspects and better rates of depression and anxiety.
We also found that in the autumn, older and retired individuals slept less on weekdays after transition than before. It could also be that older individuals are especially vulnerable to having their sleep disrupted by clock changes. Sleep becomes light And more fragmented as we age.
Why does it matter?
Although short-term, our study found that sleep deprivation throughout the spring time clock change has health consequences, comparable to One night only Poor sleep is related to decreased mental and physical health.
Research has found that clock changes are related to increased self-esteem. Heart attacks, A stroke, Traffic accidents And Depression. Sleep plays a very important role in keeping you going. Heart healthyin addition to maintaining emotional regulation. The amount of sleep you get also affects you. Reaction times And how likely are you? Take risks.
Concerns have been raised concerning the adversarial health effects of clock change. To call the sleep scientists To cancel clock changes. Indeed, an increasing number of nations – including US, Jordan, Mexico, Ukraine And in them The European Union – planned to do exactly that.
But stopping clock changes is just not straightforward. Projects in each US And The European Union Disagreement has stalled over which period to adopt permanently. Sleep experts say Living in winter (Standard) time is best for health since it prioritizes the morning light that helps you get up, resets your biological rhythm every day and makes it easier for you to go to sleep within the evening. Meanwhile, politicians are campaigning. Permanent Daylight Saving Time Because of the economic advantages they think it's.
Britain finds itself in an interesting position. No longer a part of the EU, it is just not sure to stop clock changes just like the EU. But it could be out of sync with the remainder of Europe (including the Republic of Ireland). Economic and logistic Implications
The UK government is prone to review its daylight saving time policy when the EU finally ends clock changes. It could be very vital that when this happens they have in mind the impact on sleep and health.