Doctors: Day Light Saving Can Affect Health and Wellness
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GIBSON COUNTY, Tenn.- Local doctors said turning the clock backward for the official end to daylight saving time does not necessarily mean there is an extra hour of rest. If a person’s internal clock is out of sync, doctors said that sleep patterns, the immune system, mood and wellness can be affected. “As we go into day light saving again or fall back this time of year, you will increase your night time or dark hours and a lot of times for certain people that will bring about Seasonal Affective Disorder which is basically like a depression. There is moodiness, anxiety, grumpiness, lack of interest in activities that used to have interested somebody,” said Dr. Peter Gardner, Physicians Quality Care. Experts said losing or gaining an hour of daylight can disrupt your circadian rhythm or what is known as your “internal clock”. Recent studies have shown a correlation between light exposure and the amount of serotonin that a body releases. Physicians said the best remedy is to make sure you get at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep each night. “When you burn the candle at both ends and don’t get enough sleep that’s when you have a tendency to get sick,” said Dr. Gardner. “Your immune system needs time to replenish itself.” Experts said it can take up to a week for some sleep patterns to adjust to a new schedule. Afternoon napping, and daily exercise are suggested in helping to regulate a new sleeping schedule. Local antique clock repairmen, Alan Mcleary, told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News that around this time of year several clocks have to be repaired due to some people not knowing how to set their clocks back. “If somebody has an antique clock and they move it backwards it’s not going to cost them a lot to fix it but it’s going to cost something because it will damage something,” said Mcleary. “Sometimes the springs break and all other kinds of things go wrong and it’s just a major ordeal when you start to work on them and fix them,” said Veneda Ing, Milan’s Jewel Box Instead of winding backwards, clock repairmen advise those who have antique clocks to turn it off, then reset an hour later. “What you need to do is right before you go to bed stop it then start it and go on to bed,” said Bruce Ing, CEO of Milan’s Jewel Box. “It’ll be running when you get up.”
