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If you’re like me, you hate the unnatural change to daylight savings time that we experienced over the weekend.
The time change is not only unnecessary and annoying there is evidence it is harmful.
There are numerous problems associated with changing to daylight savings time, more than are associated with the change back to standard time.
The number of heart attacks, strokes and suicides increase in the days and weeks following the change to DST, according to Adam Spira of Johns Hopkins.
Spira says going to sleep and waking up earlier than our internal clocks are ready for us to do leads to several negative of health impacts.
“The consequences of insufficient sleep include decreases in cardiovascular health, increases in diabetes and obesity, poorer mental health, lower cognitive performance, and an increase in the risk of motor vehicle accidents,” he says.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that 55% of people experience tiredness, as the jarring change to being forced to wake before light is forced on us.
Incredibly, Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murry joined with Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott to reintroduce the wrongheaded Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight savings time permanent.
In 2022 Murray joined with another Florida Republican senator, Marco Rubio, to let the Senate adopt such a change by unanimous consent. Former Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee supported such a change, as does President Donald Trump.
There should be no time change at all but making daylight savings time permanent is not the way to go.
Permanent standard time is “undeniably” the best option for our health, “if you believe in science,” according to Dr. Alaina Tiani, a clinical health psychologist who specializes in behavioral sleep medicine at the Cleveland Clinic’s Sleep Disorder Center.
It is time to end the twice a year clock changes but not with the unhealthy adoption of permanent daylight savings time. Yes, northern states like Washington and Idaho get less daylight in the winter, but it is a gradual change. We adjust naturally.
We should be aligned with our natural clocks and do away with DST altogether.
-Don Gronning Editor
