Daylight Savings Time will soon come to an end, marking the official return to standard time in Illinois and many other states, but for some doctors and sleep experts, changing the clocks is a polarizing topic.

According to Dr. James Rowley, professor of medicine at Rush University and former president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, changing the clock could actually do more harm than good.

The topic of daylight saving time versus standard time has been hotly debated, especially in recent years. Sleep experts have advocated permanent standard time in some cases. But some experts say switching to permanent daylight saving time, as some lawmakers previously suggested, would be even worse.

“Permanent standard time would basically mean that we were on, I think, biologically correct time all year round. And I’m going to say biologically correct because our bodies are more accustomed and have evolved to be at what would be by the considered standard time for years,” Rowley told NBC Chicago in an interview. “Permanent daylight saving time, the specific problems arise in the winter. It’s great to have ‘the extra hour of sunlight’ in the evening, although I always remind people that we have, you know, the same amount of sun in the summer. , whether it’s daylight or standard time, but that seems to be an hour later. But in winter, sunrise is much later, and that is very problematic biologically, because we need sunshine in the morning to set our circadian rhythm for the day. .”

Previously, proposed legislation called for permanent daylight saving time, but that legislation ultimately failed and no new legislation has been proposed for a vote.

So the clock continues to change twice a year.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has been pushing for a switch to permanent standard time for years.

“By causing the human body clock to become misaligned with the natural environment, daylight saving time increases risks to our physical health, mental well-being and public safety,” said Dr. M. Adeel Rishi, chairman of the AASM Public Safety Committee and a pulmonary, sleep medicine and critical care specialist at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, said in a statement. “Permanent standard time is the optimal choice for health and safety.”

Experts cited a “growing body of evidence” in recent years.

“Permanent standard time helps synchronize the biological clock with the rising and setting of the sun,” says Dr. James A. Rowley, president of the AASM, said in a press release. “This natural synchronization is optimal for healthy sleep, and sleep is essential for health, mood, performance and safety.”

It also echoes similar insights from other organizations, including the National Sleep Foundation, which said that “seasonal time changes disrupt sleep health and should be eliminated.”

Permanent daylight saving time would lead to later sunrises in much of the US, with some states not seeing a sunrise until after 9am during parts of the year.

“Having sunshine in the morning helps us fall asleep at night. And the other problem, of course, is that it gets darker later in the morning, which brings its own problems with safety, driving and walking. Parents are certainly concerned about their children walking to school in the dark,” Rowley said. “If we were to adopt permanent daylight saving time, most of the United States would not have sunrise until after 8 a.m. and the northern states would. – you know, the especially northern states like Minnesota, Montana, the Dakotas – only have sunshine after 9 o’clock. o’clock in the morning. And so the American Academy of Sleep Medicine is convinced that we should have permanent standard time, not permanent daylight saving time.”

Still, Rowley noted that no legislation is currently being discussed to push for a switch to permanent daylight time, so a change in the near future is unlikely.

With the clocks still changing, Rowley noted that there is increasing evidence that the body never fully adjusts to daylight saving time, even between spring and fall.

“For some people, losing that hour of sleep (in the spring) just makes them more anxious, some more depressed, some more irritable. So it can be quite problematic. The problem is that even in the long run, while we thinking that we’re adapting to that change, there’s actually evidence that we’re not fully adapting to the change, so we’re still at increased risk for all of those things during daylight saving time,” he said. “Also, as I said before, we need sunshine in the morning to help us fall asleep at night. But in the summer, if we have light too late in the evening, it actually prevents us from falling asleep.” So if we have that ‘extra light’ in the evening actually prevents sleep. It also has long-term consequences.”

Here’s what you need to know.

When does daylight saving time end?

According to the provisions of the Uniform Time Law, daylight saving time ends on the first Sunday of the month of November.

This year that date falls on Sunday, November 3, with the clocks going back one hour at 2 a.m. While this means the sunset jumps back, it also means an extra hour of sleep, which is probably welcome news.

When will daylight saving time return?

Daylight saving time will make its welcome return to the Chicago area on Sunday, March 9, the second Sunday in March.

By then, the city will experience almost 12 hours of daylight again and sunset will occur just after 7 p.m.

What is daylight saving time?

Daylight saving time is a clock change that typically begins in the spring and ends in the fall. Under the terms of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. On those days the clock goes forward or back one hour.

When it is not in daylight saving time, the time is known as standard time.

As it stands now, Illinois is switching between the two. The “spring forward” is when the state enters daylight saving time, and the “fallback” marks a return to standard time.

According to the Time and Date website, standard time is the local time in a country or region where daylight saving time is not in effect.

“More than 60% of the world’s countries use standard time all year round,” the site says. “The remaining countries use daylight saving time during the summer months, with clocks generally set one hour ahead of standard time.”

Which states do not observe daylight saving time?

The annual time change will occur in Illinois and almost every U.S. state except two:

Arizona (although some Native American tribes observe daylight saving time in their territories) and Hawaii.

U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, also do not observe daylight saving time.