V brought to my attention an article relevant to this weekend. A study published a few years ago found that the incidence of heart attacks significantly increases the first three weekdays after Daylight Saving Time begins. The authors also looked at the end of Daylight Saving (in the fall), and there was no significant difference then compared to other times of the year (although there was actually a trend towards decreased heart attack incidence).
The heart attack incidence ratios for the first three weekdays of DST are:
Monday: 1.061
Tuesday: 1.100
Wednesday: 1.057
These ratios may seem small, but they are statistically significant (they had data for 1300-2000 heart attacks per day). Presumably, a large contributor to this effect is the loss of sleep that is associated with the time change, as all other variables are well-controlled. This explanation also fits the trend toward the opposite finding at the end of Daylight Saving - we tend to get more sleep that weekend than usual.
Rest up tonight!
Source:
Janszky and Ljung. NEJM 359, 2008.
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