夏令时的切换增加了健康风险

danny01

夏令时的切换增加了健康风险本周末切换到夏令时又将使数百万计的澳大利亚人出现暂时的缺觉，专家警告这可能触使工作场所事故和心脏病发病率的猛增。东部的几个州（不包括昆士兰）和南澳的时钟将在周日凌晨2点向前拨1个小时从而开始2010-2011的夏令时。

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/ ... 20101001-16092.html
Daylight saving time shift increases health risks
October 1, 2010 - 3:24PM
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Workplace safety risk ... adjust your body clock to avoid sleep deprivation.
This weekend's time-shift will again plunge millions of Australians into temporary sleep debt, which experts warn can trigger a jump in workplace accidents and heart attacks.

Clocks will be turned forward an hour in the eastern states, excluding Queensland, and in South Australia at 2am on Sunday to start daylight saving for the 2010-11 summer.

While it delivers an extra hour of daylight during waking hours and reduces energy use, Associate Professor Greg Murray said the change also posed some short-term risks and challenges.

"Initially there is an acute sleep deprivation of one hour," Dr Murray, from Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology, said today.

"On top of the chronic sleep deprivation that many people suffer, this additional loss of sleep appears to cause decreased alertness, concentration and mental performance."

Dr Murray, who studies the role of circadian rhythms in mood disorders, said it could take days and weeks for a person's sleep-wake rhythm to adjust fully to daylight saving.

People who were "more night owlish", often the young, would find the adjustment period particularly tough.

An analysis of workplace accidents shows almost a 6 per cent increase in the week following the time-switch, attributed to reduced alertness caused by loss of sleep.

Heart attacks increase by 5 per cent, Dr Murray said.

There was evidence of a rise in alertness-related car crashes though the picture was complicated by improved lighting during the evening traffic peak.

"Until our body clock realises the change has happened, we are sleeping at the wrong circadian phase, causing more disturbed sleep," Dr Murray said.

However, he said once the body had adjusted, there were clear benefits.

"We have more daylight time in which to exercise, socialise and get some sunlight exposure, which are good for mental health and wellbeing," Dr Murray said.

He offers the following tips to help with the adjustment.

- Plan. It is difficult to go to bed earlier, so plan for feeling a bit sleep deprived in the first days after the switch. Leave early for work or school so you aren't rushing in traffic. If sleep deprivation leaves you irritable, watch your interactions with others.

- Adjust. It is important that the body clock advances to synchronise with the earlier sleep-wake cycle. You can help this process by getting sunlight exposure early in the day. This is particularly important for adolescents and other night owls.

- Celebrate. Dr Murray says humans are social animals and more daylight allows extra time for exercise, meeting friends, and an opportunity to bed down positive new habits.