UT Southwestern Scientist and States At Odds Over Daylight Saving Time

UT Southwestern Scientist and States At Odds Over Daylight Saving Time: A UT Southwestern scientist is joining the international coalition taking aim at daylight saving time. Some countries in Europe are looking at eliminating the practice that can negatively affect our circadian rhythms, while other American states are looking to keep it year-round for economic purposes. UT Southwestern's Dr. Joseph Takahashi, who discovered the first circadian gene in mammals, says that disrupting our internal clocks is linked to higher rates of obesity, heart attack, cancer, and depression. 'It is now well established that waking up even an hour earlier adds to stress on our body and sleep deprivation,' said Takahashi, who isChairman and Professor of Neuroscience at UT Southwestern, with the Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern, via release. 'Imagine what is happening in the brain and body when our circadian rhythms have to deal with bigger disruptions.' In China, where there is only one time zone for a country wider than the United States, people in