Get ready to set your clocks back an hour. Daylight Saving Time ends tomorrow night, meaning most of you will get an extra hour of sleep.
But is the time change hazardous for your health?
"I don't think anyone really knows that," Dr. Jameel Ahmeed, LSU Health Cardiologist, told WWL.
"There is particularly one study that came out a couple of years ago that observed that with a change to Daylight Saving Time in the spring there was an increased risk of cardiac events, including heart attacks, stroke, and admissions for irregular heart rhythms such as atrial afibrilation"
However, Dr. Ahmeed adds that the same study indicates switching back to standard time has the opposite effect on heart health.
"In the fall, they noticed a similar decline in some of those areas," Dr. Ahmeed said.
Dr. Ahmeed is quick to point out that few studies have been done on the topic, and those that have been performed don't delve deeply into the topic.
"These are really just observational studies. They're not really looking at the causal effect."
Dr. Ahmeed noted the semiannual time change could indirectly impact a person's health.
"Unless people are decreasing their physical activity in the longterm, I don't think there's a clear-cut relationship to when those daylight hours are occurring."
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