The body does ‘tell time’. Everyone has a “master” internal clock controlled by an area of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), says that generates circadian rhythms—internal 24-hour cycles that regulate biological functions. “Most people are aware of the sleep-wake rhythm, but this is just one of the rhythms,” she says, adding that circadian rhythms also regulate body temperature, digestion, hormone levels, and immune function. But there are also “local clocks in various tissues in the body, our social clock, which dictates when we have to go to work or school, and the solar clock, which relates to the timing of sunrise and sunset. Effects on health DST happens in spring and summer, while fall and winter follow standard, or “natural,” time. Under standard time, morning and evening light are more evenly balanced around noon, when the sun is highest overhead (solar noon). By shifting the clock so that solar noon happens at 1 p.m., “we are not actually ‘saving daylight.’ We are just redistributing it by changing our social clocks so that more light happens in the night and less in the morning. Certain populations struggle more. Both night owls and workers whose shifts start early in the morning tend to struggle during the DST period. “Many high school students are night owls, and yet their schools often start the earliest,” says. “During daylight saving time, they are at even greater risk for sleep deprivation,” adding that some schools are delaying start times to match adolescent circadian rhythms. On the other hand, she says, “Older adults may have a harder time adjusting to standard time. They tend to have the opposite pattern of teens. More of them fall asleep in the early evening and are wide awake by 2 to 4 a.m.
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