What Is Circadian Rhythms?
Essentially, circadian rhythms are multiple physical changes that take place in the body at regular intervals throughout each day and night. Most if not all organisms have circadian rhythms, which include even plants and microorganisms themselves. Circadian rhythms are the natural rhythm of the body and are regulated by a master clock located in the brain. They put a check on various body processes so that people can easily relate with their outer world.
These group of biological rhythms regulate the timing of liberation and release of hormones and they are in effect the time we experience sleep and times we are alert. For instance, the eyes release the hormone melatonin when are set free directly to darkness. Melatonin then makes one feel sleepy which makes them sleep The next reaction is then to cause sleep.
With the end of Daylight Savings Time set for November 3, people in America get an extra hour of sleep but lose this much earlier in the evening.
The good news: Out of this, guess what you stand to get? A glorious extra hour of sleep. The bad: It will be dark as a pocket by late afternoon for the next several months in the U.S. Day light saving time will be over at 2 a.m. local time next Sunday, November 3 and you should put your clock back one hour before going to bed. This does not last however as from March 9th we will go back to daylight saving time when the clock is once more moved forward.
Daylight saving time ends on November 3, offering people one more hour of sleep but making afternoons shorter on the same day.
Day Light Saving affects our casing us an extra hour of sleep when we turn the clock back one hour on November 3, but this brings earlier darkness during the afternoon.
Which explains that fact that adjusting to time changes in spring is relatively more challenging. As you know, Days are short, and nights are long in the winter and vice versa in the summer; these changes can negatively affect people’s biological rhythms for weeks or months. Some research has even highlighted a rise in heart attacks and stroke immediately after the beginning of the March time change.
“Fall back” should be easier. However, it can take time before changing the sleep pattern and the circadian rhythms, let alone the shortcomings of leaving work in the dark or exercising when it is still bright. Some of those people with seasonal affective disorder, a kind of depression generally associated with short days and little sun in the fall and winter, might also find it hard.
Medical and health organizations such as the AMA and AASM have pointed out that it is high time that the society threw out time switches and that maintaining standard time falls in line with the sun – and the human body. A vast number of countries worldwide do not practice DTS. For those that do — traditionally in countries of Europe and North America — the date that clocks are changed also differs. Of those, the two which remain on specific local standard time are Arizona and Hawaii.
How the body reacts to light (Circadian Rhythms)
The fact is that the brain contains an inherent clock that established by using exposure to light and darkness. This is a roughly 24 hour cycle by which we are determined our time of sleep and our amount of wakefulness. They also vary with age, which is why early to rise youngsters turn into hard to wake teens.
Daylight resets the body clock in the morning. A hormone called Melatonin starts to rise during the evening making people more sleepy. That extra hour light at evening — from daylight saving time — leaves too much light in the evening and delays that surge and the cycle is thrown off. And that circadian clock (circadian rhythms) is not just for sleeping; it also tells the body and brain how to regulate heartbeat, blood pressure, stress hormones, and metabolism.
How do Time Changes Impact Sleep?
An hour forward on the clock disturbs sleep schedules — because despite the fact that the clocks are changed, the working and school schedules remain unchanged. That’s a problem because as you know many individuals are suffering from sleep deprivation at the moment. Slightly over 30% of U.S adults sleep less than seven-plus hours every night per the CDC’s recommendation, while about 52% of U.S teens lack sufficient amount of sleep daily especially on weeks nights, which is a minimum of eight hours. Lack of sleep increases the risk of heart diseases, shrinkage of the brain, obesity and many more complications.
How to cope with date • How to look for Clock Changes
Some people attempt to condition themselves for this change shock by gradually moving their bed times to the desired change time a couple of days prior the change. The general change can however be made easier by other methods such as exposure to more sunshine as this aids in the resetting of the circadian rhythm to anticipation of a healthful night sleep.
Is the U.S. going to finally do away with the time change?
Every now and then, there are heuristic motions by legislators to do away with the change in times. The most recent notable try at reform involves a now-frozen bipartisan piece of legislation called the Sunshine Protection Act, which seeks to make DST permanent. According to health officials, however, it is the lawmakers that got it wrong; it is standard time that should be retained permanently.
