Turn Back the Clock--Prevent a Heart Attack?

It may seem hard to believe, but daylight saving time may save your life every autumn.

In a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, Swedish researchers have observed that the number of heart attacks dip on the Monday after clocks are set an hour back each autumn. This may be due to the extra hour of sleep that the change allows. As might be expected, the hour of sleep lost in the spring is associated with more heart attacks.

There is growing evidence that sleep can affect our cardiovascular health and that sleep loss can lead to inflammatory changes promoting disease. The number of heart attacks in Sweden from 1987 to 2006 was compared between the week after the time shift and the corresponding days two weeks before and two weeks after.

In the spring, the increase was found to be 6% on the Monday and Wednesday, and 10% on the Tuesday, after clocks were moved forward. When clocks were moved backwards, the number of heart attacks decreased by 5% on Monday, but was equivalent on the other days observed.

Monday is well known to be the worst day for heart attacks, so do something good for your heart, and use that extra hour to sleep in.