Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Daylight saving time means different things to different folks

Donald Bucklin, MD
Conditions
March 8, 2014
Share
Tweet
Share

Daylight saving time is approaching again. At first glance, it might seem enough to just remember to spring forward. But do you realize daylight saving time is one of the grandest social engineering experiments in America?

Almost the entire country moves their schedule up one hour. Every meeting, romantic dinner, and heart transplant occurs one hour later. Every business, court appointment and movie showing is one hour later. In virtual lockstep, the entire nation boldly takes a step into the future.

To put it in perspective, all the millions of dollars, countless man hours, programs, and smart people’s best efforts spent convincing the public to stop smoking, has only reduced the smoking rate by 15 percent. And smoking gives you cancer — it should be an easy sell, right?

But almost by decree, we get nearly 100 percent of the people to move their entire lives an hour forward!

Modern society requires us to be a slave to the clock, a cog in the great machine. Organize almost any human activity and there is implicit agreement to the rule of time. But we are more than machines; we are complex biological organisms that sometimes rebel to even well-meaning change.

Daylight saving time was conceived 100 years ago as a way to save lamp oil during World War 1. Moving the clock forward extended daylight later in the evening, and less whale oil was used in lighting the parlor, which was a noble goal.

When we moved away from lamps that burn oil to ones that require electricity, the equation changed a bit. Now light could be made quite inexpensively, but heating and cooling was less efficient, so daylight saving costs us money.

Trade is modestly increased by daylight saving time. People are more willing to go out and spend money when it is light. A dinner out, a movie, some light shopping, they are all more attractive when you can see where you’re going and don’t need multiple clothing layers.

As you might guess, there is also a biologic cost. There is a measurable spike in heart attacks in the weeks following daylight saving time.

Many people are wandering around critically sleep deprived, and taking away one more hour spills the apple cart (a scary thought as sleeping is not one of my talents). When the clocks fall back in the autumn, heart attacks temporarily go down, and balance is preserved in some weird way.

But most people have only mild challenges from the leap forward. If you are sensitive, it can take several weeks for your sleep cycle to straighten out. Like all human attributes, adaptability to sleep disturbance is quite varied. Some people are challenged and some don’t notice.

But daylight saving is not really about saving money, saving whale oil or increasing trade. Daylight saving is about quality time.

Arriving home from work every night in the dark tends to discourage family activity. That extra hour of sunshine can be the excuse for eating on the patio or going for a walk after dinner — anything to dislodge the family from the TV set is a good thing!

ADVERTISEMENT

Daylight saving is perhaps wasted on adults. Kids live for it. We all have fond memories of neighborhood gatherings on bright evenings. The chance to burn off a little energy and practice your negotiating and social skills.

Daylight savings is a rite of spring, and a promise of more time to add something fun to our lives. A few fragile people may become unbalanced, but most of us find an extra hour to enjoy life.

Kick the can, anyone?

Donald Bucklin is a regional medical director, US HealthWorks.

Prev

Aviation and anesthesiology: The importance of training

March 8, 2014 Kevin 5
…
Next

Sympathy is the missing art in medicine

March 8, 2014 Kevin 5
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Aviation and anesthesiology: The importance of training
Next Post >
Sympathy is the missing art in medicine

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Donald Bucklin, MD

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Are e-cigarettes creating new generation of smokers?

    Donald Bucklin, MD

More in Conditions

  • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

    Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO
  • Why doctors must stop ignoring unintentional weight loss in patients with obesity

    Samantha Malley, FNP-C
  • Why hospitals are quietly capping top doctors’ pay

    Dennis Hursh, Esq
  • Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in emergency department triage

    Resa E. Lewiss, MD and Courtney M. Smalley, MD
  • Why PSA levels alone shouldn’t define your prostate cancer risk

    Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD
  • Reframing chronic pain and dignity: What a pain clinic teaches us about MAiD and chronic suffering

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions
    • Online eye exams spark legal battle over health care access

      Joshua Windham, JD and Daryl James | Policy
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      G. van Londen, MD | Meds
    • Pharmacists are key to expanding Medicaid access to digital therapeutics

      Amanda Matter | Meds
    • Why ADHD in women requires a new approach [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 2 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions
    • Online eye exams spark legal battle over health care access

      Joshua Windham, JD and Daryl James | Policy
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      G. van Londen, MD | Meds
    • Pharmacists are key to expanding Medicaid access to digital therapeutics

      Amanda Matter | Meds
    • Why ADHD in women requires a new approach [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Daylight saving time means different things to different folks
2 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...