As clocks march ahead and daylight saving time begins this weekend, you may be anxious about losing an hour of sleep and how to adjust to this change.
Even though it’s technically just one hour lost due to the time change, the amount of sleep deprivation due to disrupted sleep rhythm lasts for many days and
often throws people off schedule
, leading to cumulative sleep loss.
Many studies have demonstrated that there is an increased risk of
heart attack, stroke and high blood pressure
associated with sleep deprivation.
Workplace injuries
increase and so do
automobile accidents
. Adolescents often find it harder to wake up in time to get to school and may have difficulties with
attention and school performance
or
worsening of mental health problems
.
Is there something to be done to help to deal with this loss of sleep and change of body clock timing?
Of course.
We
lead
a sleep evaluation center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and regularly see
patients who are dealing with sleep loss
and whose internal clocks are not synchronized with external time. Our experience has shown us that it’s important to prepare, as much as possible, for the time shift that occurs every spring.
Here are some quick tips to prepare yourself for the upcoming weekend.
Don’t start with a “sleep debt”
Ensure that you and, if you’re a parent, your child get adequate sleep regularly, especially leading up to the time change each year. Most…
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