Refusal to change clocks: somnologist tells how life on “winter time” will affect Ukrainians

From the point of view of health and science, humans function according to standard winter time, and setting clocks to daylight saving time is an artificially created system and process. Therefore, it is more useful to stay always on winter time. This was stated by somnologist Daria Pylypenko to a journalist of UNN, commenting on the adoption of the bill to abolish the transition to "winter" and "summer" time.  

"Many countries have already switched to standardized winter time, and we are finally among them. From the point of view of health and science, humans function according to standardized winter time, and daylight saving time, clock change is an artificially created system and process. Because it is important for a person to have quality sleep and  these are not hands on a clock, because we function according to our own internal biological clock, which is located in the brain - the suprachiasmal  nucleus, and it determines all our physiological and mental processes, including the functioning of the immune and endocrine systems," said Pylypenko.

According to her, the biological clock is triggered by the change of day and night.

"Given that our biological clock is triggered by the change of day and night, by light hitting the retina, and when we switch to daylight saving time, we get a lot of bright light in the evening, which is critical because a person has to get comfortable in the light and get ready for sleep, so the brain gets confused," Pylypenko said.

Ms. Pylypenko noted that according to questionnaires and research results, a high percentage of cardiovascular attacks, strokes, risks of workplace injuries, and road accidents  occurred during the transition to daylight saving time.

"Winter time also has its own nuances, because it is very harmful to jerk the biological clock for one hour,  because it desynchronizes with the external clock. That is, each cell functions in its own rhythm, that is, internally, for example, it is eight in the morning, and when we pull the clock, it turns out to be seven or nine, depending on the type of clock change. Of course, you can adapt. A healthy person can adapt to daylight saving time in just 24 hours. However, where are these healthy people? Especially in Ukraine. We don't have healthy people at all now, because the first  people at risk when switching to winter time are people with mental disorders, neurological diseases, teenagers, and people 60+," the somnologist said.

Pylypenko explained that the risk group is those who already have an accumulated lack of sleep, because when we switch hands, we will not get enough sleep.

"This one hour. One hour of sleep deprivation is not very critical, but if you have already accumulated sleep deprivation, it begins to have a great impact on the  body. Because constantly lacking sleep completely disrupts all  human mental processes, endocrine processes, and the cardiovascular system suffers because blood pressure drops and heart rate slows down. Why do most people have heart attacks in the morning? It's because it's connected to the REM sleep stage, sleep architecture, and blood pressure fluctuations. You need to get up earlier," said Pylypenko.

She noted that every Ukrainian has sleep problems to a greater or lesser extent because of the war.

"And now we are all sleep deprived in Ukraine, everyone has sleep problems, to a greater or lesser extent, of course. That's why we are probably all at risk, but at least we shouldn't reset our biological clocks twice a year, because there are studies that say that a person needs more than 6 months to adapt somehow, and we reset our clocks every six months. When we talk about daylight saving time, again, a person cannot adapt from minute to minute, and the situation is the opposite for winter time. Yes, it can be difficult at first, because we get up and it's still dark, and people who suffer from seasonal affective disorders, for example, are at risk.

They are experiencing an exacerbation, because it is precisely associated with a decrease in the amount of daylight hours," explained Pylypenko.

Summarizing, Ms. Pylypenko noted that staying on daylight saving time is the best thing from the point of view of human biology.

"Evolutionarily, we function according to winter time, which is called standardized time. Therefore, staying on it is the best thing from the point of view of our biology. If we switch to winter time and no longer change the time at all and adjust the circadian rhythms, people will adapt. From the point of view of clock functioning, it is more legitimate and useful to stay on winter time," Pylypenko said.

Addendum

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed draft law No. 4201 on the abolition of daylight saving time in Ukraine. Thus, this year, Ukrainians will switch to winter time on the last Sunday (October 27) and there will be no more daylight saving time from 2025 onwards.