Time Change May Cause Heart Attack

Remember Daylight Savings Time begins tonight! Before going to bed Saturday night, you'll want to set your clocks AHEAD one hour! It's the old saying, Spring Forward, Fall Back! The result is that it's dark a little later in the morning, but it will be lighter later!

However, you have to take some precautions with the time change!

By setting your clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night/ Sunday morning, you may have increased your risk for a heart attack by 10 percent on Monday and Tuesday. How? If you didn't prepare for the lost one hour of sleep for the switch to Daylight Saving Time, it could have a life or death effect on your health. That's the word from Martin Young, an associate professor in the cardiovascular disease division at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who notes that there is no increased heart attack risk on Sunday because most people don't make an abrupt change in their daily schedule then. Instead, the risk peaks on Monday when people get up to go to work. Night owls have the most difficult time springing forward one hour. It's important to note that while the study uncovered an association between sleep loss and heart-attack risk, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Young says it is not known why the risk for a heart attack increases, but he offers three theories:

• Sleep deprivation can alter other body processes, including inflammatory response, which can contribute to a heart attack.
• The circadian clock may be to blame. "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."
• The immune system may play a role in the increased risk. Immune cells have a clock, and the immune response depends greatly on the time of day.

So do yourself a favor! Go to be Sunday night at the "old time". If you normally go to sleep around 10 PM, get into bed at 9 PM. You'll appreciate it Monday morning, and your heart may thank you too!