Will Idaho continue to observe daylight saving time?

IdahoRep. Mike Moyle introduced House Bill 559 in the House on Wednesday, which would allow Idaho to be exempt from following daylight saving time.

Daylight saving time begins on March 9 this year. That means, were this bill currently in place, Idaho would not spring forward.

“This disruption to families, businesses, and individuals is significant twice a year when Idaho is required to change its time,” the bill states. “Several studies even show that accidents increase during the week that daylight savings time is observed. The adverse affects of having to change time is real and can and should be eliminated.”

So what kind of medical effect does it have, and does medical staff see an increase of patients during daylight saving time?

“No, there hasn’t been a huge increase in new patients coming because they’re having more difficulty with daylight saving time, because it’s a lot like jet lag,” said Gus Blad, nurse practitioner FNP-BC with Portneuf Medical Center’s Lung and Sleep Disorders Clinic. “After a week you kind of get back into your normal rhythm of sleeping.”

Blad said losing the hour of sleep in the spring is pretty mild, but if that trend continues it can become quite serious.

“Losing sleep can increase your blood pressure, increase your blood sugar and can cause you to have increased swelling in your legs,” Blad said. “You can also become very sleepy while driving, which can be very fatal.”

Blad said with the spring forward coming in a little over a week, there are certain things you can do to adjust, like taking sleep aids.

“But of course,” Blad said, “if you have a routine sleep cycle, that’s going to help you out more than anything else.”

For history about daylight saving time, check out these links here: http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/history.html andhttp://www.snopes.com/science/daylight.asp.