If the head of the Sleep Center at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center sounds grumpy, it's not because he's losing an hour of sleep this weekend. Dr. Richard Castriotta doubts the benefit of the twice-a-year switch.
“The arguments that were originally made (were) that it saves energy and that's been disproven, fact,” emphasizes Dr. Castriotta. “It doesn't save energy. Well, it would if you got up in the dark and didn't put any lights on and drove to work in the dark without your headlights on.”
In fact, it can damage the health of some people.
“It's a real negative,” he says. “There was a study done in Finland that demonstrated an increase in stroke.”
Nonetheless, at 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning, the clock jumps forward an hour and a lot of people are going to miss church, or other obligations.