Daylight Savings Time -Data Shows Heart Attacks Spring Ahead Too

According to the Centers For Disease Control (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States.

The numbers are incredible.

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Heart Health Death Toll Is Staggering

The CDC says

one person dies every 36 seconds in the United States from cardiovascular disease. About 659,000 people in the United States die from heart disease each year—that's 1 in every 4 deaths.

We have folks working in this building today who are dealing with heart health issues as are many of our radio listeners.  Heart health hits home everywhere.  So you might think we would think twice before activating policies that might add to or complicate heart health issues.   You might think...

This coming Sunday 3/13, just one week from the official start of Spring, we will once again "spring forward" and advance our clocks by an hour for daylight savings time.

No big deal?

Daylight Savings and Heart Health

That depends on who you are talking to.  Seems like twice a year, every year, we hear the debate about the pros and cons generated by the one-hour shift.

Here then is more of that from the American Heart Association. (AHA)

The argument - Hey, it's just an hour, so what's the problem?

The answer from the AHA research -  Losing an hour of sleep is only the beginning of the negative impacts associated with daylight saving time. There are numerous studies that indicate setting the clocks forward an hour leads to an increase in the number of cases of heart disease and stroke.

The Numbers Tell The Tale

A 2018 study from the American Scientific Sessions showed that hospital admissions for atrial fibrillation (AFib), the most common type of irregular heartbeat, rise with the daylight saving time transition. The study showed no difference in AFib admissions for the days following the end of daylight saving time, when people regain an hour of sleep.

Another study linked the loss of an hour of sleep with a 24 percent increase in daily heart attack counts, while the regaining of an hour of sleep was associated with a 21 percent reduction in heart attacks.

It's just an hour, how does that happen?

An article in Yahoo-Finance says scientists believe health changes likely have something to do with the disruption of the body’s internal clock. The experts say you should work on improving your health all year, but there are some specific steps you can take now to prepare for the impact of springing forward:

start getting as much exposure to light each day as possible, start winding down a little earlier in the evenings ahead, don’t compensate with extra caffeine if you’re feeling tired, and don’t nap if you’re feeling tired

It's just an hour, but the data says it's a potentially dangerous hour for heart health.