ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, October 28, 1996 TAG: 9610280135
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MIAMI
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
GRABBING THAT EXTRA HOUR of shut-eye should have done everyone some good by helping to start the week on a well-rested note.
Time to relish one of the perks of the season - the extra hour's sleep you gained Saturday night if you remembered to push your clock back.
``We should all feel a lot better [this] week,'' said Dr. David Broome, clinical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of Miami and VA Medical Center. ``So enjoy. None of us get enough sleep anymore, so this is really a good thing.''
Modern life - from the light bulb that extends our work hours to late night reruns to ever more frantic schedules - means the average American gets two hours less sleep every night than our ancestors did a century ago. That's left us all a little sleep-deprived and in need of the boost the end of daylight-saving time can provide, said Broome.
The advent of standard time means more than just extra shut-eye. Shorter days affect our sleep patterns, natural rhythms, even our moods in ways scientists are still exploring.
The autumn time change is easier to adjust to because it adds an hour to your day, coming closer to the body's natural 25-hour cycle than the 24-hour day Mother Nature stuck us with. The springtime loss of an hour is harder to take because it flies against the body's natural rhythms.
So most of us should find it easier to get up in the mornings this week. But the elderly, whose aging body clocks tend to make them early risers to begin with, may find themselves getting up too early. And some people may have trouble adjusting because their internal clocks simply aren't very flexible.
Luckily, it's easier to reset your body's clock than the one on your VCR. Doctors say it can be done naturally by taking a morning constitutional. A dose of sunlight to start your day will trigger the morning hormone surge that wakes the body, jump-starting the chemical cycle that times your day.
``It tells your brain it's time to wake up now,'' said Dr. Alejandro Chediak, chief of the Sleep Disorders Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center. ``It will increase your alertness level and make it easier for you to fall asleep at night.''
If you can't fit a morning walk into your schedule, another way to help reset the clock is to exercise four to six hours before bedtime or jump in the sauna two hours before - because the cooling down phase promotes deep sleep, Chediak said.
Winter's shorter days can also affect your mood. In northern climes there is a form of depression - Seasonal Affective Disorder - linked to the gray, overcast days of winter that can be treated with exposure to bright light for several hours a day.
``Open the windows, take a walk, get some fresh air and sunshine,'' said Dr. Joseph Henry, associate director of the Mood Disorders Program at the University of Miami.
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