TAMPA, Fla. — Some Americans may have woken up tired Monday after the country shifted back to daylight saving time.
But a federal bill is making progress to prevent Americans from changing their clocks twice a year.
The U.S. Senate voted unanimously in favor of making daylight saving time permanent through the Sunshine Protection Act. However, the House must consider it, and President Joe Biden must also sign it later before it becomes law.
Doctors said losing just one hour of sleep does have concerning health effects on the body.
"That shift between changing from standard time to daylight saving time, definitely, is difficult on the human body," Dr. Suketu Shah, a sleep and pulmonary physician with Pulmonary Associates of Brandon.
Shah, who has 20 years of experience, said data has shown the effects go beyond just sleep deprivation. It includes cardiovascular side effects, like heart attacks, along with associations to motor vehicle crashes.
Shah said while others may feel the effects less, it takes months for some people's body systems to correct and adjust.
The impact is worse for people already with depression or with cardiac and sleep problems, said Dr. Ashok Modh of the Tampa Bay Sleep Center.
"It's like having a jet lag twice a year and the next morning you have to go to work, it becomes a problem for people," Modh said.
The Sunshine Protection Act, if passed, would make daylight saving time permanent. That could mean less light in the mornings but more during the day.
While The American Academy of Sleep Medicine applauded the Senate's move, it stated it "overlooks potential health risks that can be avoided by establishing permanent standard time."
Doctors said while there may be pros and cons to either time shift being made permanently, it's most important to have consistency due to the effects it can have on people.
If passed, the Sunshine Protection Act will not take effect until November 2023.