Time change can trigger mini-jetlag: 3 tips on how to overcome it

The time change is bad for your health. In times of globalization, long-distance travel and shift work, this statement sounds almost mocking. In fact, however, several studies show that even an hour that we “lost” at the weekend can have a negative effect on the circadian rhythm.

A study of University of Turku came to the same conclusionthat the risk of stroke increases after the changeover to daylight saving time. The researchers compared 10-year stroke data in the week before and after the clock change to stroke rates two weeks before and after.

After the clock change, heart attacks increase by 25 percent

The number of heart attacks is also expected to increase after the changeover to daylight saving time. That was shown in 2014 Study by scientists led by Amneet Sandhu from the University of Colorado. The scientists had analyzed the data from a clinic in Michigan. Accordingly, the number of heart attacks on the Monday after the change to daylight saving time increased by 25 percent compared to other Mondays in the year. The same study found that the number of heart attacks fell by 21 percent after the fall time change.

Sandhu attributed the negative effect in spring to a combination of factors, such as the stress of a new work week and the associated changes in the sleep-wake cycle. During the changeover to daylight saving time, the hour less sleep could make this even worse.

Achim Kramer, head of the chronobiology department at the Charité Berlin, is also convinced: “The hour already messes up our internal clock.” The internal clock controls metabolic and detoxification processes as well as the sleep-wake cycle.

Time change 2023: Mini jet lag can last up to two weeks

“To compensate for a time difference of one hour caused by a flight, the body normally needs about a day,” explains Kramer in an interview with FOCUS Online.

Late types in particular, who have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, suffer less for a week or two from mini-jetlag due to the hour. Others say they wouldn’t change at all. According to Kramer, the result is primarily limited attention. Studies have shown that more traffic accidents actually happen on the Monday after the changeover to daylight saving time. Studies also prove this.

The switch from winter to summer time is more challenging than the other way around, as Kneginja Richter says. She leads the sleep clinic at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the Medical Paracelsus Private University (PMU) in Nuremberg. “You can compare it to flying east, to Japan for example,” she explains. “This time change is also more difficult for the body than when traveling west.” The consequences: tiredness and exhaustion, concentration problems and irritability.

What helps against the tiredness caused by the time difference?

Luckily, there are methods that make it easier and faster to put away the stolen lesson. Specifically, the expert recommends three things:

1. Move! “Anything that keeps you active during the day helps,” says Richter. This includes exercise in the fresh air, for example.
2. “At the same time, it should be as dark, quiet and cool as possible at night”, she continues. The contrast between day and night is particularly clear – the body gets used to the new sleep-wake rhythm more quickly.
3. Avoid power naps and afternoon naps. This helps to be tired enough in the evening to get a good night’s sleep. If you can’t get through the day without it, limit the power nap to a maximum of half an hour.

Who is particularly affected by the time change to daylight saving time

In addition to the late types, who find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning, “the owls who are more active in the evening” also have difficulties with the time difference, Richter explains. You lose a lot of valuable sleeping time as a result of the change.

Older people, on the other hand, do not automatically have a hard time with the time change. It’s more a question of fitness, according to Richter. “If someone is very athletic, the body can adapt to new circumstances more quickly. This also applies to the time change.”