A normal person has a day/night (circadian) cycle that typically produces various hormones which are needed for correct body functioning. Some hormones are produced during a person's waking hours and some are produced at night. This daytime and nighttime cycle is needed for the production of most needed hormones.

Disruption of this normal cycle can result in a number of things, none of them good. There is the possibility of a person becoming irritable, depressed, somewhat confused or even in some cases to having metabolic problems. Further, one's immune system may be compromised to some extent.

Sounds bad, but for most of us who usually enjoy a good night sleep, no great harm. Staying up for a special "all nighter" now and then causes no major problem. Such a loss of sleep can usually be made up, although some sources say lost sleep is lost forever. Regardless, falling asleep in midday will not do the job - - although it might lose a job.

Certainly, a loss of one night sleep is no great problem. However, when that loss of sleep continues beyond thirty-six hours, a second night loss of sleep starts to have bad effects. Certainly, the amount of sleep that is needed varies from person to person. Some people can function very well on just a few hours' of slumber; then there are the sleepy-heads who need more than the average. However, most people need about eight hours sleep each and every night. If they don't get it, problems tend to crop up.

Even mild loss of sleep over a few days can affect a person. A recent study that is referenced at http://sleepdisorders.about.com/cs/sleepdeprivation/a/mildloss.htm showed that losing only an hour or two every night for a week created adverse effects relatively quickly. It is apparent that loss of even a few hours of sleep may limit how well a person can function both mentally and physically. More serious was the fact that subjects' immune systems were compromised. Also, there was a loss of control of some subjects' metabolism which appeared to provide a path to obesity.

These are long term effects that relate to a person's ability to naturally regulate their blood sugar, to minimize inflammation in a person's circulatory system, and even to provide a person's defense against cancer.

Such loss of sleep problems can be readily accessed on the web. Putting "sleep deprivation" into any search engine will usually result in a goodly number of discussions relating to getting and to not getting ample sleep.

Now, putting these facts into a discussion of "Daylight Saving Time" (or more correctly: daylight shifting) may result in some apprehension of this worldwide ritual. Sometime in spring, we are told that it is time to arise an hour earlier. In a normal situation, we will sleep less in the summer and just normally get up an hour earlier. But this one hour earlier dictate, all at once, is a shock to the body. As noted above, losing only an hour or two every night for a week can cause problems, which is exactly what Daylight Saving Time does. In fact, a study made several years ago showed an eight percent jump in traffic accidents on the Monday after clocks are moved ahead. This study was made so as to determine whether even an hour's change in sleep patterns could create adverse effects. Indeed, such an hour change does disrupt sleep patterns and will "persist for up to five days after each time shift", according to the study. Refer to http://www.standardtime.com for details.

Of course, this Daylight Saving Time change discussed here is the shock of having to arise an hour earlier than previously. The change back to standard time is not as detrimental because it is easy to sleep a bit later in the autumn and then to stay awake a bit longer. Many people just naturally sleep longer as day light gets less and less, so most people will, indeed, "creep back" to normal (standard) time. There is not the urgency associated with falling back an hour like there is in the usually abrupt springtime change of moving up an hour.

Most of us who need the average eight hours of sleep need to realize that there is a real shock to our bodies when things change abruptly. "Jet Lag" is apparent. Although "Daylight Saving Time Lag" is not so apparent, it is just as real. Therefore a valid suggestion is to "creep up" on Daylight Saving Time simply by arranging one's schedule so that one arises, more or less, ten minutes earlier each day during the week preceding the time change. Indeed, such is difficult to do, but one is well advised to provide one's body with a smooth sleep pattern change rather than the shock of an abrupt hour change. Our bodies were built to live on a natural sunlight and seasonal schedule; let's plan so that we can accommodate the time requirements of modern society with this natural schedule.