Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 28, 1995 TAG: 9510300071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Because today's 6:30 a.m. will be 5:30 on Sunday.
This is one of the two times a year you are forced to reset the clock, the watch, the travel alarm and the mutt. We "fall" back an hour.
Daylight-saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, which makes 2 a.m. really 1 a.m.
Which means?
A restaurant can sell alcoholic beverages one hour longer.
And we get something to complain about.
You've heard the grumbles: "It gets late too early." "The time has screwed me up." "My circadian rhythm is off."
But this is one time that a reaction really may be all in your head, Dr. William Elias says.
Elias has a private practice in neurology and also directs the Sleep Disorders Center at Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley. He says one hour of change doesn't pose much of a problem for people, but it probably will bother us a little, anyway.
When will we be back to normal?
"You should adjust in a few days, perhaps a week at most," Elias says.
It takes more hours than one to confuse the circadian rhythm, he says.
Circadian is a biology term for how people, plants and animals get tuned into a 24-hour pattern based on the earth's rotation.
Jet lag is real. If a person is trying to make the three-hour shift necessary when flying from Los Angeles to New York, the rhythm can get out of kilter because it makes bedtime come three hours earlier.
Humans have more trouble going to sleep earlier than staying up later, so the adjustment would come easier for someone flying from Roanoke to the West Coast, Elias says.
"Most adults don't have any trouble delaying sleep ... especially to go to a party," he says.
Switching from daylight-saving time to Eastern standard is just a blip on life.
The 20 percent to 25 percent of Americans who do shift work have the real problems, Elias says. "Most accept that they'll be tired and sleepy for a few days after a shift change.
"Light is our major time reminder," he says. "We can reset our own time with artificial lights."
If you are concerned about how your body will cope this weekend, Elias suggests you turn the clock back early today and begin living the new time.
"It might benefit."
by CNB