Most of the U.S. “springs forward” Sunday for daylight saving time, with clocks moving ahead at 2 a.m. for most of the country. The switch means an hour of sleep is lost in the moment, a change that can affect more than how people feel the next day.
AP Health reporting says the deeper issue is timing: darker mornings and more evening light can knock the body clock out of rhythm. The article notes that the disruption can bring sleep trouble that lasts for weeks or longer for some people, and that research has found increases in heart attacks and strokes after the March time change.
The article describes how circadian rhythms work as a roughly 24-hour cycle driven by exposure to sunlight and darkness. It says morning light helps reset the rhythm, and that by evening levels of melatonin begin to surge, triggering drowsiness. With daylight saving time, the extra hour of evening light can delay that melatonin surge and leave the cycle out of sync.
Sleep and circadian disruption, AP says, connect to more than bedtime. The article says sleep deprivation has been linked to heart disease, cognitive decline and obesity, and that the circadian clock also influences heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormones and metabolism.
One study referenced in the reporting found that fatal car crashes temporarily jump in the first few days after the spring time change in the U.S. The risk was highest in the morning, and the article says researchers attributed the increase to sleep deprivation.
On the cardiovascular side, AP says the American Heart Association points to studies suggesting an uptick in heart attacks on the Monday after daylight saving time begins and in strokes for two days afterward. The article also notes that doctors already expect more heart attacks on Mondays generally and in the morning, when blood is more prone to clotting, but it says researchers do not know why the time change adds to the Monday connection. It adds that an abrupt circadian disruption could exacerbate factors such as high blood pressure in people already at risk.
For people trying to adjust, the article recommends starting with early light. Sleep experts advise going outside for early morning sunshine during the first week of daylight saving time to help reset the internal clock, and they say moving daily routines—such as dinner time or when someone exercises—up earlier may help the body adapt.
At the same time, AP warns that afternoon naps and caffeine, plus evening light from phones and other electronic devices, can make it harder to move into an earlier bedtime. The reporting also notes that some people already fall short of the recommended seven hours of sleep per night, making the additional shift more challenging.
The annual debate over whether to end the time change continues. AP says President Donald Trump promised before his second term to eliminate daylight saving time, and it also describes the Sunshine Protection Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at making daylight saving time permanent, as having repeatedly stalled in Congress. The article says some health groups recommend the opposite of that direction: the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine agree time switches should be done away with, arguing that sticking with standard time year-round aligns better with the sun—and human biology—for more consistent sleep.
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