Daylight Savings Time Linked to More Heart Attacks
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Still feeling a little groggy about the springing ahead brought on daylight-saving time this weekend? Be careful. There's more at stake than a little morning sluggishness. An expert at the University of Alabama says that the Monday and Tuesday after moving the clocks head one hour in March is associated with a 10 percent increase in the risk of having a heart attack.
University of Alabama Associate Professor Martin Young, PhD., recently pointed out the phenomenon. “The opposite is true when falling back in October," Young said. "This risk decreases by about 10 percent.”
Rhode Island Hospital's George McKendall
George McKendall, MD, director of the coronary care and intermediate coronary care units at Rhode Island Hospital, shared a related observation. "There is an observed seasonal pattern with more heart attacks observed in the winter and spring compared to summer and fall months," he said. "Our observations at Rhode Island Hospital are similar to these previous reports." And while Dr. McKendall found the observations by Young regarding the association with daylight savings time with heart attack incidence "interesting," Dr. McKendall added that he had not observed that phenomenon specifically at Rhode Island Hospital.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Sunday morning of the time change doesn’t require an abrupt schedule change, but, Young says, heart-attack risk peaks on Monday when most people rise earlier to go to work.
What's the culprit?
“Exactly why this happens is not known but there are several theories,” Young says. “Sleep deprivation, the body’s circadian clock and immune responses all can come into play when considering reasons that changing the time by an hour can be detrimental to someone’s health.”
"There are well-established risk factors for heart disease," McKendall said. "These include cigarette use, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and a family history of heart disease. Triggers of heart attacks have been a source of interest for many years. It appears that emotional upset, major stressful life events and crises, chronic and acute stress and anger may all contribute in some way to trigger heart attacks. The role of the immune system is complex and not completely understood."
Why is daylight-saving time tied to these, according to Young?
Sleep deprivation
“Individuals who are sleep-deprived weigh more and are at an increased risk of developing diabetes or heart disease," Young said. "Sleep deprivation also can alter other body processes, including inflammatory response, which can contribute to a heart attack. And, your reaction to sleep deprivation and the time change also depends on whether you are a morning person or night owl. Night owls have a much more difficult time with springing forward.”
Circadian clock
“Every cell in the body has its own clock that allows it to anticipate when something is going to happen and prepare for it," Young said. "When there is a shift in one’s environment, such as springing forward, it takes a while for the cells to readjust. It’s comparable to knowing that you have a meeting at 2 p.m. and having time to prepare your presentation instead of being told at the last minute and not being able to prepare. The internal clocks in each cell can prepare it for stress or a stimulus. When time moves forward, cell clocks are anticipating another hour to sleep that they won’t get, and the negative impact of the stress worsens; it has a much more detrimental effect on the body.”
Immune function
“Immune cells have a clock, and the immune response depends greatly on the time of day," said Young. "In animal studies, when a mouse is given a sub-lethal dose of LPS, an endotoxin that elicits strong immune responses in animals, the mouse’s survival depends upon the time of day they were given this endotoxin. Mice that were put through a phased advance much like Daylight Savings Time, and then had a challenge to their immune system, died, whereas the control animals that were not subjected to a phased advance survive when given the same dose of LPS, showing how an acute time change can be detrimental to the immune system response.”
Only a matter of days
Luckily, the body’s clock eventually synchs with the environment, Young says. While some researchers are examining strategies to help the body resynch to time changes more rapidly, including pharmaceuticals to cure states like jet lag, he advocates a natural approach that eases your body into the adjustment.
Meanwhile, Dr. McKendall has some counsel for Rhode Islanders concerned about today's prospects. "Regardless of the time of year, it is important that all patients talk to their primary care physician about their individual risks for developing heart disease," he said. "Patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol should work with her primary care physician to get these under control. All patients should avoid cigarette use and pursue a healthy diet and active lifestyle."
For more Health coverage, don't miss GoLocalTV, fresh every day at 4pm and on demand 24/7, here.
Related Articles
- RI Hospital: Sleep & Post-Partum Depression Study
- RI Hospital + Miriam Combine for New Open-Heart Surgery Program
- HIV + Drug Overdose Linked in RI Hospital Study
- RI Hospital Cardiologist Heads Bariatric Surgery Study
- RI Hospital: Estrogen Linked to Sudden Cardiac Death
