This year, the time change in Spain will take place during the night of March 27 to 28, where the clocks will have to be advanced one hour to enter summer time. That is, when the hands of the clock mark two in the morning, they will have to advance to three.
But when did the first time change on the planet occur? and for what reason? The story goes back to 1784, when the politician, scientist and inventor Benjamin Franklin realized that when he got up at 6 in the morning, the sun had already been shining for a while. With the intention of making better use of the morning light and saving energy, he sent a letter to The Journal of Paris proposing several measures, among which the advancement of the clock time stood out.
Nearly 200 years later, in 1905, the English builder William Willett made the same observation on one of his morning horseback rides. In this case, Willet proposed transitions of 20 minutes per week. Another idea that did not come to fruition but was the seed of a process that would finally be approved in 1916 in the United States, with the first official time change.
The case of Spain was somewhat more peculiar. Until January 1, 1901, solar time was used and the time was governed by the Madrid meridian, however, each community or province established its time change according to convenience. However, the beginning of the wars and the measures proposed in other countries pushed Spain to establish the new time change. In this way, as of April 15, 1918, the summer time change was established by official mandate.
This time change was not definitive, since between the periods between the years 1920-1925 and 1930-1936 this time change was not applied. It was in 1940 when Franco decided to adjust the time of Spain with that of Germany, with the intention of making a greater rapprochement with this country. However, until 1973 this change was not made official.
Does the time change affect our mood?
In addition to the many debates that have arisen over the years about the effectiveness of this measure in terms of energy savings, there is another that is becoming more and more popular: How does the time change affect our lives?
As explained by Sanitas, it is a proven fact from a physiological perspective that the most immediate effect of the time change is an alteration in the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that acts by regulating the states of wakefulness and sleep depending on sunlight : the more light the less melatonin is produced, so the function of inducing sleep that this hormone has is produced later. An effect that usually has more incidence with the spring time change than in the autumn one.
With the fall time change, where sunrise and sunset earlier, less sunlight is available. Therefore, with a lack of light, we secrete more melatonin, which makes us less active, since this hormone is responsible for regulating sleep. However, getting carried away by this state of relaxation can be dangerous, since a sedentary lifestyle can cause more serious pathologies, such as cardiovascular ones.
This change tends to affect more the most vulnerable population, such as children or the elderly, as well as people who suffer from a neurological disease. People who notice this change usually have symptoms similar to those that occur after a long trip, with the well-known jet lag, which usually manifests itself in the form of tiredness or lack of concentration. And it is that, the difficulty to fall asleep is the most common symptom after the time change, so it can trigger other problems such as tiredness, drowsiness and irritability.
and nutrition to avoid tiredness and the feeling of fatigue. Along with this, it is of great importance to have a good rest team to adapt to the new schedule without affecting sleep. Despite the fact that clocks are only delayed one hour, studies indicate that the body can take days to adapt to the new schedule, causing different disorders, so it is advisable to adapt the new meal and rest schedules little by little.
Facebook Comments
Disqus