Fall Back to Perfect Health

By Dr. Dave Edenfield

Ah yes, Autumn, that time of the year when the leaves start to change color in North Florida.  A time when we detect a snap to the air as the endless summer at long last reaches its inevitable conclusion.  However, it is also the time of year when we are forced by edict to fall back one hour as we change our clocks from Daylight Saving Time to Eastern Standard Time.  While many people are grateful to have an extra hour to enjoy the weekend when we change our clocks in the Fall there are a number of clinicians that think that the damage done to our body’s internal clock by this semi-annual tradition does more harm than good.  Add to this the fact that the Autumnal change coincides with the fact that every day we see less and less of the Sun and this can lead to much more than a simple time differential.

Whose Idea Was DST Anyway?

English: Text: "You can't stop time... but you can turn it back one hour at 2 a.m. Oct. 28 when daylight-saving time ends and standard time begins." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While Ben Franklin has been credited with the creation of Daylight Saving Time, this is not historically correct.  While Franklin did pen an essay which claimed that if Parisians awoke at dawn  they would save their country $200 million per year in candles alone, it was actually an Englishman, William Willett who published a brochure in 1907 entitled “The Waste of Daylight.” He proposed that the British should set their clocks ahead eighty minutes between April and October.  However, the British Parliament did not agree with the idea and it wasn’t until the outbreak of WWI that Germany became the first to adopt DST on April 30, 1916 in order to save electricity.  Weeks later the UK followed suit.  The US didn’t actually adopt it until two years later.

While there are approximately 70 countries around the world that currently observe Daylight Saving Time, it isn’t as universal as most people believe.  In fact, there are two states in the US, Hawaii and Arizona that do not alter their clocks away from Standard Time, along with several US territories, including Guam, Puerto Rico, America Samoa, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.  Far from conserving electricity, studies have indicated that increased recreational activities that necessitate driving a motor vehicle and air conditioning actually account for a net energy loss during DST.

No Time Like the Present

But still we fall back every year.  Scientists are still trying to determine if the changes to our clocks also affect the body’s circadian rhythms.  It seems that time change can be linked to everything from cluster headaches to sleep disorders to bouts of depression labeled as Seasonal Affective Disorder. 

According to a recent article in the New York Daily News, Dr. Shelby Harris, Director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx stated that, "Any time you (change) the body's clock even by an hour it really throws off all the hormones in your body. Our biological clocks are so well set that even an hour's difference in light exposure" can create changes in the body.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/daylight-saving-time-ends-fall-back-healthy-article-1.1503957#ixzz2kSRs8uU6

Even if you don’t suffer from tension headaches, DST can mess with your head.  Just like jet lag, any alteration in a person’s normal routine has proven ultimately disruptive to sleep schedules.  Everything from a difficulty in falling or staying asleep to sleep apnea has been attributed to changes in people’s daily routine.  Other symptoms including daytime drowsiness, lack of attention and irritability can also be brought on by time disruptions.  While springing forward seems to trigger the most mayhem, including an uptick in auto accidents and heart attacks, falling back comes with its own laundry list of calamities, including a decrease in worker productivity and depression.

To accelerate the rate at which your body adjusts to time change, there are a number of things that you can do, including:

1.      Consuming more fruit, vegetables and whole grains

2.      Taking Omega 3 and vitamin C

3.      Including evening activities such as walking or biking

4.      Drink more fluid

5.      Take a hot bath before bedtime

Just like death and taxes, most citizens have to inevitably deal with the twice yearly shift to their clocks and their routines.  The question comes down to whether you are prepared to spring forward to increased stress or fall back to perfect health.

Dr. Dave Edenfield  and Dr. Steven Warfield are part of the team of doctors and therapists at http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com and http://endyourpain.orgwho are dedicated to helping you and your family lead  healthier, happier and pain-free lives.