Mayo Clinic Study - Daylight Savings Not Linked to Heart Attacks

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A new Mayo Clinic study has found that the ongoing debate over the merits or detriments of Daylight Saving Time should not include its impact on heart health.

Despite previous studies suggesting a link with an increase in heart attacks, a Mayo Clinic news release says the data suggests that the impact of "springing forward" and "falling back" an hour in the spring and fall on heart health is likely minimal. The researchers looked at data gathered nationwide involving more than 36 million adults to look for any connections between Daylight Saving Time and serious cardiovascular problems.

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"We looked at five years across the U.S., and what we found is that it’s unlikely that there is a clinically meaningful difference in cardiovascular health due to daylight saving time," says Benjamin Satterfield, M.D., Ph.D., a cardiovascular diseases fellow and lead author of the study.

The news release says the researchers found almost 75,000 adverse cardiovascular events during the week directly after the spring transition to Daylight Saving Time and the fall transition back to Standard Time. Analyzing that data found that it represented a slight increase in the rates of cardiovascular events but the increase was not clinically significant.

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"When decisions are made about whether to abolish daylight saving time, there is no need to take concerns regarding heart health into account," says Bernard J. Gersh, M.B., Ch.B., D.Phil., cardiologist and senior author of the study.

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Mayo Clinic researchers are continuing to look into the potential impacts of Daylight Saving Time on other aspects of health. The news release says that includes current studies involving possible effects on mental health and rates of motor vehicle accidents.

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