PENNSYLVANIA, USA — It’s time to spring forward.
Clocks move forward by one hour in the spring for daylight saving, extending the amount of daylight hours in the evening.
While an extra hour in the day might appeal to some, Dr. Sam Al-Saadi says it comes at a cost.
“The spring forward has not been a good thing for us in general and the data shows so far that we are not recovering well from the shift of the clock,” Al-Saadi said.
Dr. Al-Saadi is the Medical Director of Sleep Labs at UMPC West Shore.
He helps patients find their adequate sleep schedules, especially when managing disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea.
Something he says can surge at this time of year.
“There’s other things that’re attached to it, other hormones like cortisol and growth hormones that’re attached to the circadian rhythm that function with that.”
Circadian rhythm refers to your internal clock. It helps you carry out essential functions.
A person’s rhythm can fall out of balance depending on how much light a person is exposed to throughout the day.
“You’re waking up earlier and our clock doesn’t like that, it sets us up by the sun, it doesn’t set itself by our social standard,” Al-Saadi said.
Dr. Al-saadi believes the government adopting a standard time would help Americans regulate their circadian rhythm and mitigate the impacts of poor sleep.
But even that might not be enough.
“Certainly, setting the clock in the fall back is good but recovery may not happen,” Al-Saadi said.
Dr. Al-Saadi referenced findings made by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
In an article published earlier this year, AASM wrote in part, “it is the position of the AASM that the United States should eliminate seasonal time changes in favor of permanent ST, which aligns best with human circadian biology.”
Several pieces of state legislature aiming to eliminate Daylight Saving have been introduced over the years.
The most recent being House Bill 272 by Representative R. Mackenzie in the 2023-2024 session.
The act proposes to establish a uniform standard of time in the Commonwealth, virtually eliminating the practice of Daylight Saving.
The bill is currently under consideration by the House State Government Committee.