As a cardiac nurse, I dread the Monday after the spring clock change. A 2014 study presented to the American College of Cardiology found a 24 percent spike in heart attacks that day, and a 2020 study in Current Biology found fatal car crashes rise about 6 percent in the week after we spring forward. Our bodies run on circadian rhythm, not legislation, and losing an hour of sleep is a population-level stress test. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine formally supports permanent standard time, noting morning light is what anchors healthy sleep. The Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022 to lock the clock, but sleep scientists say permanent daylight time is the wrong half of the choice. Abolish the switching, keep standard time, and stop the twice-yearly health shock.
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LifestyleSep 23, 2026
Should daylight saving time be abolished permanently?
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Discussion (2)
The 24 percent heart attack spike is the number that should end this debate. We are talking about a government policy that predictably injures people twice a year. No tradition is worth that.
My father had his cardiac episode the Monday after a spring forward, and his doctor mentioned the pattern unprompted. Anecdote is not data, but the data backs the anecdote here.