Daylight Saving Time is this weekend—and it's the worst

Plus more health news | Email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( [Health Matters]( ["Reverse SAD" does not mean "happy"]( By Jeffrey Kluger Editor-at-Large If you’re like most people (and by most, I mean 99% of U.S. adults), you love the spring and summer, not least because of the long hours of daylight that will get longer still this weekend, when clocks are turned one hour forward. But if you’re like me (and the rest of the 1%), you have a decidedly different take on things. That’s because we are part of the small minority of people who suffer from what is known as summer—or reverse—seasonal affective disorder (SAD). We all know about winter SAD, which affects about 5% of the U.S. population and leads to low-grade—and sometimes high-grade—depression as sundown comes earlier and daylight hours shorten. There are plenty of suspected causes for winter SAD, including a reduction in the neurotransmitter serotonin in response to lower light levels and an anomaly in a gene that governs melanopsin, a receptor in the retina that influences circadian rhythms, hormone secretions, and cognitive processes. When it comes to summer SAD—which leads to low moods as days get longer—the research is less robust, but investigators are beginning to look at a handful of possible triggers. Some examples: - Too much light can spur overproduction of melatonin—a hormone that governs sleep—leading to disruptions in the sleep-wake cycle and resulting in depression. - Seasonal pollen may play a role, causing an inflammatory response in vulnerable people that affects the production of norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that influences mood. - Heat and humidity may also affect levels of norepinephrine, as well as serotonin and dopamine. Whatever the causes, when you set your clocks forward on Saturday night, spare a thought for the small group of us who will make the change not with joy at the arrival of the light, but sorrow at the loss of the dark. Spare us the sunny summer. We’ll take a cloudy sky, a chilly drizzle, and a 4:30 PM sundown anytime. [READ MORE]( Share the story What else to read [Is the U.S. Ending Daylight Saving Time?]( By Solcyre Burga Sen. Marco Rubio reintroduced legislation that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent. [Read More »]( [New York City Rats Carry COVID-19, Study Finds]( By Simmone Shah They're able to be infected with the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants. [Read More »]( [FDA Now Requires New Info on Breast Density With All Mammograms]( By Matthew Perrone/AP The new requirements are aimed at standardizing the information given to women following scans to detect breast cancer. [Read More »]( [Sports Were Never Designed Around the Female Body]( By Lauren Fleshman The unrealistic ideals placed on female athletes are not only ignorant, but also deeply harmful, writes Lauren Fleshman. [Read More »]( [FDA Approves a New Nasal Spray to Treat Migraines]( By Alice Park The drug, zavegepant (brand name: Zavzpret), is the first of its type available in a nasal spray. [Read More »]( ONE LAST READ [A kidnapping shines a spotlight on medical tourism]( Four Americans were kidnapped this week while traveling in Mexico to undergo plastic surgery, two of whom were later found dead. Traveling abroad for cheaper procedures (often called “medical tourism”) has long been growing in popularity (some $137 million was spent on medical tourism in 2021 in Mexico alone), and as the Washington Post explains, it doesn’t seem that this incident will slow those numbers at all. [Read More »]( --------------------------------------------------------------- If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, [click here](. Today's newsletter was written by Jeffrey Kluger and Haley Weiss, and edited by Elijah Wolfson. [Want more from TIME? Sign up for our other newsletters.]( [Subscribe to TIME]( TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Connect with TIME via [Facebook]( | [Twitter]( | [Newsletters]( [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS]( TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508, Boone, IA 50037-0508 Questions? Contact health@time.com Copyright © 2023 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved.