Daylight saving time affects us all in more ways than we may think.
Former President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act into law in 2005, which extended the length of DST by four weeks. It now begins at 2:00 am. On the Second Sunday in March and will end on the First Sunday in November – with an exception of the states Hawaii and Arizona, where they observe standard time year round.
The time switch imposes mixed effects on people's health. People who stay up late at night have more problems than early birds, according to a Finnish study in the year 2008.
There's a spike in heart attacks during the first week of DST, also a slight drop in attacks during the first week after DST ends, according to the findings in another study in 2008; published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers tagged the “spring forward” results to sleep deprivation, which affects heart health. Ordinarily, the extra hour of “fall back” sleep promotes general well-being.
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