Sleep Expert Warns of Daylight Saving Time Dangers

(KNSI) — At 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning, we spring forward one hour, and a local sleep expert warns losing that hour of sleep is really hard on our bodies.

The United States adopted Daylight Saving Time in 1918, but Dr. Troy Payne, medical director for CentraCare Sleep Medicine, tells KNSI that most sleep doctors are opposed to the idea.

“Sleep doctors are almost universally opposed to daylight savings time. We wish it doesn’t didn’t exist because of all the medical literature that’s come out over the last several years showing that there are adverse things for people about daylight saving time, especially in the spring where we lose an hour of sleep,” said Payne. “There was a study that just came out that showed even marathon running times are longer the day after a spring daylight savings time. There was an article in the Journal of Clinical sleep medicine about three years ago that looked at all the different studies looking at heart attacks. There is a subtle but definite increase in heart attack risk in the day after people lose that hour of sleep in the spring.”

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued a position statement in 2021 that recommended the United States abolish seasonal time changes. Several bills have been presented to the Minnesota Legislature over the past few sessions, but none have moved out of committee.

Dr. Payne says the best medicine for the time change is a nap. “For some people just trying to get an extra nap in on Saturday afternoon may actually help it’s never been proven in the scientific literature, but losing that our sleep can be bad for you,” says Payne. “So I’m all for our Saturday afternoon nap and one hour Sunday afternoon nap during the spring time change to decrease the chance that you’re going to be so sleep deprived when you get up to go to work on Monday.”