If you struggled with the switch to daylight saving time, you might feel enlightened to learn it’s not just in your head. It involves an interplay between the clock, sunshine, and your body at a cellular level.

Shifting clocks forward one hour, which happened for most of us this year on March 10, can cause serious health and safety threats. We all lose an hour of sleep from time to time, but daylight-saving time is more than that. To begin with, it’s not just the one-hour time change; the effects of the time change might last for months.

People are more prone to having some types of cardiovascular events because of the change in time. Research shows the risks of having a heart attack, stroke and episodes of an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation can increase after the time change.

Many of our organs have internal clocks and a key signal for those body clocks, or circadian rhythms, is light. If you drive interprovincial for example, you may lose an hour, but a shift in the light cycle accompanies the change. When it’s time to spring forward, you don’t get that cue.

Although some defend daylight saving time for economic and other reasons, it seems that research leans towards a fixed year-round time being the healthiest approach. According to the Sleep Foundation, some people never fully acclimate to daylight saving time.

This “circadian misalignment” is a change in the circadian rhythm, which is the physical, mental, and behavioral changes the body experiences over a 24-hour cycle. This misalignment can be serious when combined with “social jet lag” – the demands from common places, like work, which take priority over a full night’s sleep. Social jet lag has been linked to higher risks of health hazards like obesity, depression, and cardiovascular disease.

Adjusting to a new rhythm

It is normal for the effects of daylight-saving time to subside after a few weeks, but in the meantime, there are ways to help adjust to the change.

Take sleep seriously. Most adults need at least seven hours a night, older and younger people may need more. Yet a third of adults are sleep-deprived and the shift to daylight-saving time can exacerbate that.

Inform yourself about good sleep hygiene. This involves ways to better your sleep, like not consuming alcohol, or eating a heavy dinner or snack before bedtime. Also, avoid using your phone before you head to bed. I know it’s tempting, but don’t sleep in on Sunday. Try to get up at your usual time and get exposed to light, because that bright light in the morning will help you wake up, and it will also help you fall asleep easier at night.

Time for a change…in safety precautions

Daylight saving time doesn’t just take a toll on sleep schedules, but it can impact the workday as well. Using daylight saving time as a reminder to pay attention to work schedules, making sure drivers are getting the breaks and sleep they need so they can remain alert and safe at work — not just in March, but all year round.

This timing gives them more time to adjust to their sleep schedules, so they’re better rested. Carriers can take extra safety precautions on the days following the adjustment to daylight saving time. Precautions could include assigning extra safety monitors, especially for work that involves driving, heavy duty equipment like cranes, forklifts, or for those working with machines.

You cannot overcome sleep fatigue with willpower

That feeling you get like your eyes are being pulled from their sockets and you can’t keep your eyelids up is fatigue. You are falling asleep! No matter how skilled or experienced you are, or how quick your reflexes, when you are drowsy at the wheel you are a liability on the road. Yet 15% of all road users in Canada admit to having fallen asleep while driving.

When you are fatigued, you are impaired. Driving while impaired by fatigue can have tragic results, just like driving when impaired by alcohol or drugs. The Insurance Corp. of B.C. reports that in B.C., on average each year, driver fatigue kills nine people and injures 620 in 850 crashes.

Although the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are widely known, the effects of fatigue on driving are less commonly recognized.

If you don’t notice a vehicle until it passes you, you don’t recall driving the last few kilometers, or you find yourself wandering into the next lane, onto the shoulder, or over the center line, you could be too drowsy to drive safely.

Sleep the only cure

A slight decrease in reaction time can greatly increase the risk of crashing, especially when travelling at highway speeds. Even when we are aware that we are getting fatigued, we often tend to ignore it and try to push through.

Coffee? OK, but be careful, it’s great for keeping you alert in the morning. But only drink it early in the day. Drinking coffee at about 3, 4 or 5 p.m., can trigger a cascade of dysregulated sleep cycles. As soon as you become sleepy, the key is to stop driving…pull over when it’s safe, turn off your vehicle and take a nap. Opening a window, blasting the air-conditioning or turning on music are not effective ways to keep you awake while driving.

Address persistent problems. If someone has a regular problem falling or staying asleep, or if they have signs of sleep apnea such as snoring or excessive sleepiness, they really should get it checked out by a doctor. The only cure for sleepiness is sleep.