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Daylight Saving Time shift on March 9 Sunday at 2 am
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4 Comments ::  :: Local News |
Daylight Saving Time shift on March 9 Sunday at 2 am
 SleepBetter.org, an educational sleep resource website, offers studied tips on successfully adjusting to the new sleep schedule imposed by the Daylight-Saving Time shift approaching on March 9, Sunday, at 2 a.m., Americans will turn the clock ahead and lose one hour of sleep-making the morning routine, work commute and Monday meetings that much more difficult. However, according to the well-rested minds behind SleepBetter.org, the time change needn’t be traumatic.
“Recent research suggests, we’re not good at adjusting to the time change naturally. Daylight-Saving Time, which affects a quarter of the world’s population and entails a one-hour change twice a year, reflects a change in social clocks-not biological ones,” explains Dr. Michael J. Breus, a nationally recognized sleep expert and contributor to the SleepBetter.org website. “New studies are showing that we don’t actually adjust to these changes in time so easily-especially ‘springing-forward’.”
Sleep Deprivation has Noticeable Consequences
Losing just one hour of sleep can disrupt the body’s circadian rhythm, potentially disrupting sleep patterns and affecting daily activities, due to sleep deprivation. This situation results in slower thinking and reaction time, as evidenced by the increase in auto accidents in the two days following the Daylight-Saving Time shift-more than on any other day of the year. Moodiness and exhaustion are also common, which can lead to fatigue and irritability. And for parents, this loss of sleep can wreak havoc on children’s natural sleep systems, which is why the experts at SleepBetter.org are offering the following five tips for gaining a good night’s sleep despite the time change:
Schedule Gradual Sleep Adjustments - Make sure your sleep schedule is regular for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday go to bed 30 minutes earlier than normal. A regular schedule let’s your brain know when it is supposed to sleep.
Take no naps over the weekend.
Make Sure Your Pillow Allows For Optimal Sleep - Using a supportive and clean pillow that is properly suited to individual sleep needs is necessary for getting the healthy sleep every body needs..
Avoid Caffeine, Nicotine and Alcohol - Caffeinated beverages can create a “buzz” within the body, suppressing deep sleep. While alcohol may make you sleepy, it will not let you sleep deep. Try to avoid it this weekend. Cut out intake of these items within three hours of bedtime.
Exercise 30 Minutes Each Day - Regular exercise relieves tension, uses excess energy and helps the mind unwind after a hard day at work, allowing for restful, uninterrupted sleep.
Make the Bedroom a Haven, Not a Workspace - A quiet, dark and cool bedroom is the perfect haven for sleep. For a more restful sleep, put work aside for two to three hours prior to sleeping, and remove distractions such as television, computers, video games and bright light. Consider a “Power Down Hour” using meditation and relaxation for 20 minutes before bed.
The Daylight-Saving Time change may be just days away, but there is still time to ensure that the shift does not negatively impact personal sleep schedules and daily routines. By following just seven simple tips, adults and children alike can ease gradually into the change and go about their lives with little to no additional stress.
For more tips on sleep improvement, visit www.SleepBetter.org. |
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ByMichael Stuart @
Saturday, March 08, 2008 10:09 AM |
For those of you who skipped a flu shot this year, you may still be able to get vaccinated (check with your doctor).
Tips For Staying Well:
- If you are at high risk, your doctor may recommend an antiviral medicine to protect you from the flu, although more drug resistance is being seen this year.
- Wash, wash, wash those hands. Better yet, use an alcohol-based sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. These kill virus germs on your skin better than soap and water.
- Flu and cold viruses usually are passed on by hand contact, so try to avoid touching door knobs, telephones, etc., where viruses can live; keep your hands away from your eyes and nose, so you don’t inoculate yourself with those viruses.
- Stay home when you’re sick, and avoid close contact with others who are sick.
- As always, check with your doctor if your symptoms persist or become severe, especially if you have any chronic illness or if you are elderly.
Helpful Herbs and Supplements
In addition, several herbs and other dietary supplements are used to prevent or treat the flu as well as colds. Many of these are felt to work by “boosting” the immune system.
They include:
- Elderberry: This herb may shorten the duration of flu symptoms, including muscle aches and fever. Sambucol is a standardized elderberry extract that is used for this; the dose is four tablespoons per day for three days.
- The herbs andrographis (sold as the proprietary product Kan Jang) and Echinacea: These may modestly reduce symptoms of a cold, but evidence for their effect on the flu is not as strong.
- Panax ginseng: This herb may prevent the flu and also improve your response to the flu vaccine; 100 mg per day needs to be taken for four weeks prior to your flu vaccine and continued for eight weeks after.
- Zinc and selenium supplements: These may improve flu vaccine response in the elderly, but probably only in people who are deficient in these minerals. You should be able to get enough of both in a standard multivitamin.
- Zinc lozenges or zinc gluconate nasal gels: These may reduce the duration of colds if started within 48 hours of onset of symptoms. Use them for about seven days, then stop; too much zinc leads to copper malabsorption and anemia.
- Other herbs and supplements that have been used to prevent or treat the flu include astragalus, garlic and high-dose vitamin C, but the jury is still out on these.
What else helps with prevention?
Be sure to get enough sleep. Deep-stage sleep helps to keep your immune system healthy.
Eat lots of produce to boost your intake of vitamin C and other antioxidants.
Try to exercise every day, but don’t overdo it. Extreme exercise, like running a marathon, actually suppresses your immune system and can put you at risk for infection.
De-stress and laugh every day. Stress-reducers like tai chi and laugh-inducers like funny movies seem to give the immune system a boost. |
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By
RJM @
Saturday, March 08, 2008 11:48 AM |
Apparently the golf, outdoor cooking, and candy industries, among others, pushed to extend Daylight Saving Time because of how much more money they will make as a result of the later daylight hours. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars of additional golf clubs, greens fees, and grills purchased. And, since we won't be falling back until after Halloween, more kids will be out trick or treating, which means more candy. Everybody wins.
Of course, the bill that codified the change wasn't called the Golfing & Grilling Act; it was called the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and the Daylight Saving change was enacted with an eye toward reducing our energy consumption by 1%. On the face of it, this makes sense; the later it stays light, the later we go until we turn our lights and heat on, and the more energy we save (maybe as much as 100,000 barrels, say the co-sponsors of the Energy Policy Act). What this analysis misses, though, is a key point: when Americans have more daylight free time, they spend it in their cars. Whether it's going to the golf course, or heading to the mall to buy a new grill, or just running a few errands, we invariably drive more when it's light out later. While I haven't seen any studies quantifying how much more we drive, I fear that any electricity and fuel oil savings would be more than counteracted by increased fossil fuel consumption, which has the double impact of not only increasing our use of (foreign) oil, but of damaging the environment as well.
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By
Billy @
Saturday, March 08, 2008 2:07 PM |
You may have noticed that March of this year was particularly hot. As a matter of fact, I understand that it was the hottest March since the beginning of the last century. All of the trees were fully leafed out and legions of bugs and snakes were crawling around during a time in Arkansas when, on a normal year, we might see a snowflake or two.
This should come as no surprise to any reasonable person. As you know, Daylight Saving Time started almost a month early this year. You would think that members of Congress would have considered the warming effect that an extra hour of daylight would have on our climate. Or did they?
Perhaps this is another plot by a liberal Congress to make us believe that global warming is a real threat. Perhaps next time there should be serious studies performed before Congress passes laws with such far-reaching effects.
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ByAstronomical Applications Department U.S. Naval Observatory @
Sunday, March 09, 2008 10:39 PM |
Starting in 2007, daylight time begins in the United States on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.
On the second Sunday in March, clocks are set ahead one hour at 2:00 a.m. local standard time, which becomes 3:00 a.m. local daylight time.
On the first Sunday in November, clocks are set back one hour at 2:00 a.m. local daylight time, which becomes 1:00 a.m. local standard time.
These dates were established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. no. 109-58, 119 Stat 594 (2005).
Not all places in the U.S. observe daylight time. In particular, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not use it. Indiana adopted its use beginning in 2006.
* In 2006, daylight time begins on April 2 and ends on October 29.
* In 2007, daylight time begins on March 11 and ends on November 4. [New law goes into effect.]
* In 2008, daylight time begins on March 9 and ends on November 2.
* In 2009, daylight time begins on March 8 and ends on November 1.
Many other countries observe some form of "summer time", but they do not necessarily change their clocks on the same dates as the U.S. |
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