Make use of extra hour of sleep: Kaiser Permanente specialist says

It’s that time of year again, when the leaves turn different colors and the weather turns cooler. It’s also Daylight savings time ending on Sunday, Nov. 6th when our clocks get set back an hour and everyone gets an extra hour of sleep.

“We need to use it to our benefit,” says Saroja Sripathi, MD, Pulmonary and Sleep Lab Director of the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center. “Unfortunately, a lot of people will opt to stay up later.”

Regardless, it is important to follow good sleep habits throughout the year and not just around the time change, Sripathi said.

Already, the nation is sleep-deprived. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports more than 35 percent of Americans get less than seven hours of sleep per night – and 1 in 20 has fallen asleep while driving.

The American Association of Sleep Medicine reports that even an hour less of sleep per night can lead to long-term health problems such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

Rather than using the extra hour of sleep to stay up later Saturday night, Sripathi recommends people go to bed at their normal time. Otherwise, they will get less sleep if they don’t take advantage of that extra hour Sunday morning.

“When Monday rolls around, they’ll be exhausted,” Sripathi said. “The extra hour of sleep coming this weekend won’t make up for all of our lost sleep, but it will help catch up and also reset our internal clock.”