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Sleep expert offers tips for a smooth transition to daylight savings
Time change begins Sunday
March 5, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - Charlene McEvoy, MD, a sleep medicine physician at HealthPartners Sleep Health Center is available to offer ways to help your body ease in to daylight savings time. The impact of the time change can be seen in the fact that experts consider sleep deprivation the most likely cause of a 15 percent increase in accidents on the Monday following the time change, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2008.
"Our bodies naturally want to sleep a little bit longer each day and in the spring, the time change gets us up an extra hour early," said Dr. McEvoy. "That's why many of us wake up Monday morning extra groggy because our sleep cycle is out of sync."
She offers these tips to keep the disruption on body clocks to a minimum:
- Turn your clocks forward Saturday morning instead of Sunday morning. Live your day based on that schedule
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Get up at your regular time on Sunday- whether you had a good night's sleep or not.
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Spend an hour or more outside, preferably in the sunshine. Sunlight helps re-set your body clock.
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Avoid taking a nap on Sunday.
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Exercise on Sunday, which promotes good sleep.
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Make sleeping a priority. Eight hours per day is recommended to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Daylight saving time begins Sunday, March 8, at 2 a.m. Change your clocks accordingly.
About HealthPartners
Founded in 1957, the HealthPartners (www.healthpartners.com) family of healthcare companies serves more than one million medical and dental health plan members nationwide. It is the largest consumer-governed, nonprofit healthcare organization in the nation, providing care, coverage, research and education to improve the health of members, patients and the community. For the third year in a row, HealthPartners is rated one of the best commercial health plans in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, NCQA's "America's Best Health Plans 2007".
Contact: 952-883-5308
651-629-0411 pager
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