DST : Science says it's bad.

[chunkyfrog]

"Some researchers are concerned about how the twice-a-year switch impacts our body’s physiology. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the largest scientific organization that studies sleep, now wants to replace daylight saving time with a move to a year-round fixed time. That way, our internal circadian clocks would not be misaligned for half the year. And it would eliminate the safety risk from sleep loss when transitioning to daylight saving time."

But that would be just too easy . . .

Remember when science got RESPECT?

[Dog Slobber]

Remember when science got RESPECT?

One of the reasons Science get's little respect is precisely because of articles that quote came from.

https://www.ecowatch.com/daylight-savin ... 47244.html

That article is not a science article, it's an opinion piece.

There aren't any links to any studies that actually do a thorough review of Standard vs Savings time.

All too often, mass-consumer based articles don't include links to studies, paraphrase studies, cherry-pick or sometimes just get the science wrong.

A common mistake I've seen is the conclusion that Daylight Savings is a bad idea because the switch to Daylight Savings can have some negative consequences.

[chunkyfrog]

So you believe that switching back and forth is a good idea?

[Dog Slobber]

So you believe that switching back and forth is a good idea?

No. Never suggested anything of the sort.

[chunkyfrog]

DST is and always was money--motivated.
7-11 stores lobbied Congress to bring it back, because it boosts their bottom line.
Home AC vs your boss's. (Guess who pays for the lobbyists?)
DST puts the expense on homeowners who turn on the AC when they get home--
(an hour earlier--jackpot for the utility company!)
and have to leave it on until darkness cools the house off.

[ChicagoGranny]

7-11 stores lobbied Congress to bring it back,

They used to be called 6-10 stores?

[chunkyfrog]

There are a lot more of them than there used to be . . .

[DreamStalker]

Dog Slobber is absolutely correct! The reason science is abused and misrepresented is because non-scientists spin their research to suit their agendas.

Claiming that science says DST is bad is like claiming that science says climate change is bad. DST is not bad except for those who are unable to adapt their lifestyle with a clock setting (BTW - most people can within a few days). Likewise, climate change is not bad except for those organisms unable to adapt to their changing environment and that is the way it has always been on this planet for all life forms. It's also scientifically known that humans are among the top 10 most adaptable organisms on our planet.

Having said that, I agree that I would prefer to just leave the clock setting the same all year around.

[Dog Slobber]

7-11 stores lobbied Congress to bring it back,

They used to be called 6-10 stores?

8-12 stores....

[Goofproof]

It doesn't help that science changes its mind on what is really correct every five years, but it does keep the liberal higher schools teachers employed, an student loans maxed out.

Any way when the country fails, and the grid and money systems go down it will be a little matter, we will have bigger fish to fry, will maybe, not fry, (raw) due to no heat to cook them. Jim

[Dog Slobber]

It doesn't help that science changes its mind on what is really correct every five years, but it does keep the liberal higher schools teachers employed, an student loans maxed out.

Science doesn't "change it's mind".

Science doesn't make statements of absolute fact, it offers the best explanation of the known evidence at the time. Should more evidence be discovered that leads to a better understanding and explanation, then Science will update its explanations accordingly, as it should.

[Goofproof]

It doesn't help that science changes its mind on what is really correct every five years, but it does keep the liberal higher schools teachers employed, an student loans maxed out.

Science doesn't "change it's mind".

Science doesn't make statements of absolute fact, it offers the best explanation of the known evidence at the time. Should more evidence be discovered that leads to a better understanding and explanation, then Science will update its explanations accordingly, as it should.

Schools don't teach science just to pass on non-absolute facts, that are really guesses that are incorrect, based on learning passed on by said schools.

Sounds like Circular Logic!

I have seen Dogs do that, but few catch their tails. Jim

Poor Pluto, all alone in the cold, kicked out of his family...

[ChicagoGranny]

All science is not randomized, double-blind, controlled studies. There is plenty of science on the health effects of DST:

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contenton ... 2/art00003

http://openheart.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000019.info

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513265/

http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs ... A_EOJMrKRt

http://pps.sagepub.com/content/10/6/733.short

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm ... id=2615252

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23228926

http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/9/e010925.abstract

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27775953

http://link.springer.com/article/10.100 ... 015-9695-8

[chunkyfrog]

Thank you, CG.

[Dog Slobber]

All science is not randomized, double-blind, controlled studies. There is plenty of science on the health effects of DST:

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contenton ... 2/art00003

http://openheart.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000019.info

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513265/

http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs ... A_EOJMrKRt

http://pps.sagepub.com/content/10/6/733.short

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm ... id=2615252

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23228926

http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/9/e010925.abstract

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27775953

http://link.springer.com/article/10.100 ... 015-9695-8

These studies do not support health effects of DST, they support the health effects of the *switch* to DST. Which I commented on earlier.

There are three ways to handle it:

• Stay on Standard time permanently
• Continue switching back and forth
• Stay on Daylight Savings Time permanently

You cannot extrapolate the negative effects of switching to DST and apply them to being permanently on DST.

From the Studies:

Conclusions In the week following the seasonal time change, DST impacts the timing of presentations for AMI but does not influence the overall incidence of this disease.

Students were tested during school days immediately preceding and following DST.
...
The early March DST onset adversely affected sleep and vigilance in high school students resulting in increased daytime sleepiness. Larger scale evaluations of sleep impairments related to DST are needed to further quantify this problem in the population. If confirmed, measures to attenuate sleep loss post-DST should be implemented.

We find DST lowers robbery rates by 7%, with the largest results occurring during the hours most affected by the shift in daylight.
...
note that changing one’s clocks “can disrupt chronobiologic rhythms and influ- ence the duration and quality of sleep” for several days, and also hypothesize negative physical effects as a result of the policy. However, most of these costs are due to the switch from standard time to DST rather than the impact of a later sunset per se
...
DST correlates with 0.35 fewer rapes per million during hours following sunset (a decrease of 38%, significant at the 10% level).

Given that switching to daylight saving time disrupts sleep and leads to a variety of negative cognitive, health, and work outcomes, we recommend eliminating daylight saving time.

we find very little evidence that spring DST has a broad and significant impact on population health. There is some minor evidence for sleep deprivation effects, but overall most people just seem to go to bed one hour earlier on Sunday evening after springing forward on Saturday night in spring.
...
More research is necessary to assess all aspects of DST regulation

Our results do not support the hypothesis that a minor circadian rhythm disruption is associated with an increased short-term risk of spontaneous delivery.

This study shows that the transition from summer time to standard time was associated with an increase in the incidence rate of unipolar depressive episodes. Distress associated with the sudden advancement of sunset, marking the coming of a long period of short days, may explain this finding.

Our results show that individuals in both the UK and Germany experience deteriorations in life satisfaction in the first week after the spring transition.

To actually compare the effects of clock time to sunrise/sunset, effectively the same as a comparison of Savings to Standard time can be done by comparing communities on the west side of a time zone against the east side of a time zone, or compare the east and west sides of a time zone border.

Unfortunately, the bulk of studies compare the clock changing periods and not the long term effects of Savings vs Standard time.