Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Is daylight saving time harmful to your health? Science explains why

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On March 26, daylight saving time returns in Italy and there will be an extra hour of daylight. However, according to scientists, this is not a good thing, on the contrary … Here are the reasons

If there’s one thing Italians agree on, it’s daylight saving time: 7 out of 10 would like Italy to definitively adopt the summer schedule For the resulting benefits, such as an overall improvement in mood (62%), and the possibility of spending more hours outdoors (63%). But what does science say about it? Is daylight savings time good or bad?

the summer timing

despite of DST, which will return to Italy on March 26It brings with it an extra hour of light, gets a lot of approval, and doctors and scientists don’t like it. It is viewed with suspicion, for example, that Switch to Spring Summer Time It leads to an hour of lost sleep from which not everyone can recover. And not only. American neurologist Beth Ann Malo of Vanderbilt University, a few months ago, wrote a series of concerns about daylight saving time in a prof Article posted by Conversation Picked up by all major US media: dal Washington Post to Scientific American.

Because daylight savings time hurts

Researchers are finding that Jump forward Each march is seriously associated Adverse health effects“In contrast, switching to standard time is not associated with these health effects.” According to a scientist who studied the effects of time shifting on the body for 5 years, Switch to daylight saving time in the spring It affects health for about eight months. Solartime approximates natural daylight, with the sun directly above it at noon. Conversely, during summer from March to November, The time change causes the normal light to appear after 1 hour in the morning”.

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the mood

And getting an extra hour of light at sunset wouldn’t be a big deal. “Morning light is essential to help set the body’s natural rhythms: It wakes us up, improves alertness, and improves mood, too: It’s no coincidence that lamps that mimic natural light for seasonal affective disorder are prescribed for “morning use,” Mallo explains.

An extra hour of light in the morning is even better

While the reasons why light invigorates us and improves our mood are not fully understood, according to Mallo and his team, this may be due to The effects of light increase levels of cortisol, a hormone that modulates the response to stress or the effect of light on the amygdala (the part of the brain involved in emotions, Mr. Dr). Suffering from the change of spring time will be above all teens who started school at about eight o’clock or less. “This means that during the summer many young people wake up and go to school in complete darkness.” But the price of exposure to light until late in the evening is approx eight months We all pay a little. “Prolonged evening light delays the brain’s release of melatonin, the hormone that promotes sleep, and that makes us sleep less overall,” says the scientist who supports the worldwide demand to cancel summertime. United Stateby the American Medical Association.

Wynne Dinwiddie
Wynne Dinwiddie
"Infuriatingly humble alcohol fanatic. Unapologetic beer practitioner. Analyst."
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