Free Republic

New research from RCSI has demonstrated the significant role that an irregular body clock plays in driving inflammation in the body's immune cells, with implications for the most serious and prevalent diseases in humans. The circadian body clock generates 24-hour rhythms that keep humans healthy and in time with the day/night cycle. This includes regulating the rhythm of the body's own (innate) immune cells called macrophages. When these cell rhythms are disrupted (due to things like erratic eating/sleeping patterns or shift work), the cells produce molecules which drive inflammation. This can lead to chronic inflammatory diseases such as heart disease,...

In a 2015 study published in Sleep Medicine, researchers compared the rate of strokes during the week after daylight saving to the rate 2 weeks before or 2 weeks after. They found the rate was 8% higher the first 2 days after the shift, and people with cancer were 25% more likely to have a stroke than during other times of year. People over 65 were 20% more likely. A 2019 report found a higher risk of heart attack after both time changes, but particularly during daylight saving. Interruptions to circadian rhythm can also impair focus and judgment. A 2020...

The warm weather across the Tampa Bay area is a sure reminder that the Spring is right around the corner. Along with nice weather, it's also time for longer days. Daylight Saving Time is quickly coming for 2014. Since 2007, Daylight Saving Time, or DST for short, begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. For 2014, that means it is time to 'spring ahead' this weekend. This Saturday night, Tampa Bay area residents need to change their clocks. March 9 is the second Sunday in March this year, so at 2:00 Sunday...

Daylight Saving Time is Here! Fall Back on Sunday!  On Sunday, November 4 (the first Sunday in November) at 2 a.m., Daylight Saving Time ends in the United States. This year, Daylight Saving Time is four weeks longer than last year with the passage of the Energy Policy Act in 2005. The Act, which extends Daylight Saving Time by four weeks from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November, is expected to save 10,000 barrels of oil each day through reduced use of power by businesses during daylight hours. (And ya'll thought Bush didn't care...

On Sunday at 2 a.m., Daylight Saving Time ends. We move the clock back one hour to return to Standard Time, giving us a 60-minute bonus. Thanks to passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Daylight Saving Time will begin one month earlier in 2007 and will continue for an extra week. It's part of a phased move designed to conserve electricity and save an estimated 300,000 barrels of oil a year.

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers trying to craft an energy bill started with the issues they thought wouldn't generate much heat. But then they tried to tinker with Americans' clocks, by extending daylight-saving time by two months. Proponents figure extra daylight in the evenings will help the nation save electricity. But juggling Americans' biorhythms, lawmakers learned, transcends the energy policy debate. Critics started complaining loudly about children walking to school in the dark, airlines struggling to schedule flights overseas and technicians scrambling to recalibrate computers. House and Senate negotiators, trying to sort out their differences and craft a comprehensive energy bill before...

Just a friendly reminder: At 2:00 am (local time) on Sunday, 27 October 2002, turn your clocks back one hour. This does not apply to our friends in Hawaii, most of Indiana, most of Arizona, and a few other places (you know who you are).