Commentary
Video
The Case for Permanent Standard Time: Clinical and Public Health Implications
Experts in sleep medicine discuss the detrimental effects of daylight saving time on sleep, health, and public safety, advocating for the adoption of permanent standard time. [WATCH TIME: 5 minutes]
WATCH TIME: 6 minutes
Daylight saving time involves advancing clocks by 1 hour in the spring and returning to standard time in the fall, disrupting the alignment between the sleep-wake cycle and natural light exposure. This shift can negatively impact sleep health by reducing total sleep duration, altering circadian rhythms, and increasing sleep fragmentation. Research indicates that daylight saving time contributes to higher rates of sleep deprivation, particularly in individuals with preexisting sleep disorders, and is associated with increased risks of metabolic, cardiovascular, and cognitive impairments.1 The transition is especially challenging for those with rigid schedules, such as shift workers and students, who may struggle with prolonged circadian misalignment.
In collaboration with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), NeurologyLive® held a roundtable discussion where sleep experts shared their clinical perspectives on the health impacts of the time change as well as solutions. The panelists in this conversation included clinical psychologist Jennifer Martin, PhD, who serves as professor of medicine at UCLA and was recently the past president of the AASM, neurologist and sleep medicine specialist Karin Johnson, MD, who serves as the cochair of the Coalition for Permanent Standard Time and the vice president of Save Standard Time, and pulmonologist Seema Khosla, MD, FCCP, FAASM, who practices sleep medicine in Fargo, North Dakota.
In this final episode, sleep experts examined the impact of daylight saving time on circadian rhythms, cardiovascular health, cognitive function, and public safety. They highlighted research demonstrating increased risks of heart attacks, stroke, and vehicle collisions following seasonal time changes. The panel emphasized that permanent standard time aligns better with human biology, promoting overall well-being, productivity, and safety. They also addressed misconceptions about economic impacts and encourage public action by urging legislative support for permanent standard time policies.
Transcript edited for clarity.
Isabella Ciccone, MPH: Ultimately, from your clinical perspective, do you believe eliminating daylight saving time would benefit overall sleep health?
Karin Johnson, MD: Yes.
Jennifer Martin, PhD: Yeah. I think that’s a great closing question because, of course, we believe that ending seasonal time changes in favor of standard time is good for sleep health, but it’s also good for health in general. It’s good for public safety. We know that the other direction doesn’t work. I think there’s a list of reasons why it’s not actually just about sleep health—it’s about the general health of the population, well-being, and safety. I would argue that healthy people also engage in more fun and recreation. Again, as Dr. Johnson mentioned, some of the industries that have historically supported daylight saving time—especially given that retail is now 24/7 online—the economic impact they might fear is really unlikely to come to fruition.
Karin Johnson, MD: Even those golfers! If you actually care about your score, there’s good data showing that it affects your shooting average and things like that. So, true sports fans—we get all these sports people now really promoting sleep health, and we really hope they get behind this cause as well and say, “We need this for our game as well as our health.”
Isabella Ciccone, MPH: Okay, any other additional remarks?
Karin Johnson, MD: Do you want to have a quick update on what the politics are?
Seema Khosla, MD, FCCP, FAASM: Or even, I think we probably need to remind people what we notice—like Dr. Martin said—about the general health impact that first week. More vehicle collisions, more heart attacks, more strokes, right? Those are the types of things that we objectively see. It’s a good reminder that this isn’t just about a little more yawning and trying to clear the cobwebs—this does have very serious health impacts across the population.
Jennifer Martin, PhD: There’s one other thing I want to add in terms of recommendations for coping with this upcoming time change. That is—do not schedule things really early in the morning on Monday or Tuesday next week if there’s any way to avoid it. It’s not the best day to take a 6 a.m. flight. Don’t put your most important meeting of the week at 8 o’clock on Monday morning if that’s not a great time for you. Be prepared for this circadian disruption and take actions to keep yourself safe, knowing that your circadian rhythms will be misaligned and you might be a little sleep-deprived.
Seema Khosla, MD, FCCP, FAASM: That’s such a good point, right? Even if you do a good job of aligning your own circadian rhythm, the other driver may not have, so you want to be very vigilant as you’re driving, traveling, and doing all of these other things.
Karin Johnson, MD: I’d like to add a little call to action. If you want to learn more, go to savestandardtime.com or ditchdst.com. We have some great short videos on all the impacts of daylight saving time. We also have easy ways to write to your legislators. Currently, there is only a federal bill asking for permanent daylight saving time—we do not want that bill to pass. It is called the Sunshine Protection Act, and we would like to ask our legislators to submit a permanent standard time bill instead.
Meanwhile, it is unlikely that a permanent standard time bill will pass at the federal level if we don’t have state action. There are currently more state-level bills for permanent standard time this year than ever before—more than for permanent daylight saving time, which is a first. So write to your state legislators! You can do it easily through either ditchdst.com or savestandardtime.com and tell them you want permanent standard time. That’s how we’ll get this done.
We want state bills that say we will adopt permanent standard time if the states around us also do so. It probably won’t happen immediately, but it will give the federal government the information they need to see that the population wants this. Until they see that, they likely won’t act. We really need those state bills to show the federal government that this is now the preferred approach, especially with the increased understanding we’ve gained over the last 10 years about the chronic, long-term effects of daylight saving time.
REFERENCES
1. Sleep experts push for adoption of permanent standard time for public health, safety, and efficiency. News Release. American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Published January 27, 2025. Accessed March 13, 2025. https://aasm.org/sleep-experts-push-for-adoption-of-permanent-standard-time-for-public-health-safety-and-efficiency
