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Doctor says daylight saving time is ‘tinkering with nature’ of sleep

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Like snow in the winter and flowers in the spring, daylight saving time comes like clockwork, but one of Boston’s top doctors says the spring-forward-fall-back changes disrupt the natural rhythms of our body. “We’re tinkering with nature when we do this,” said Dr. Charles Czeisler, who is the chief of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “People will notice their dogs, their plants, they don’t really shift the timing of their activities as we change our ‘social time.'”Czeisler says one hour here and there does make a difference, and not just when we change the clocks.”People think nothing of staying awake two, three, four hours on the weekend and then sleeping in on weekend nights. Then come Monday morning, you’re doing the equivalent of a trip from Los Angeles to Boston,” said Czeisler.So what can you do to improve your sleep health?Start by setting aside enough time for sleep and trying to maintain as regular a sleep schedule as possible. Finally, decide if you’re actually setting your alarm clock too early.Getting at least seven hours of shut-eye is a really important part of any health strategy. “The snooze button is really associated with a lot of adverse health problems,” he said. “Some people keep hitting the snooze button every five or 10 minutes for two hours and that’s really disruptive to the depth and quality of sleep.”

Like snow in the winter and flowers in the spring, daylight saving time comes like clockwork, but one of Boston’s top doctors says the spring-forward-fall-back changes disrupt the natural rhythms of our body.

“We’re tinkering with nature when we do this,” said Dr. Charles Czeisler, who is the chief of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “People will notice their dogs, their plants, they don’t really shift the timing of their activities as we change our ‘social time.'”

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Czeisler says one hour here and there does make a difference, and not just when we change the clocks.

“People think nothing of staying awake two, three, four hours on the weekend and then sleeping in on weekend nights. Then come Monday morning, you’re doing the equivalent of a trip from Los Angeles to Boston,” said Czeisler.

So what can you do to improve your sleep health?

Start by setting aside enough time for sleep and trying to maintain as regular a sleep schedule as possible. Finally, decide if you’re actually setting your alarm clock too early.

Getting at least seven hours of shut-eye is a really important part of any health strategy.

“The snooze button is really associated with a lot of adverse health problems,” he said. “Some people keep hitting the snooze button every five or 10 minutes for two hours and that’s really disruptive to the depth and quality of sleep.”

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