Turning back the clocks an hour this Sunday may buy you more than an extra hour's sleep--  it actually could save your life!   Researchers in Sweden found that on the day AFTER  the time change, heart attacks decreased by FIVE percent. 

Dr. Virend Somers, a Mayo Clinic Cardiologist, studies sleep-related heart disease at the Mayo Clinic.  He says it's been known that sleep deprivation is bad for the heart, but no-one  realized a SINGLE hour could have such a HUGE effect.

"This is one example of the potential broad effects of sleep deprivation."    

Sleep, he says, is when the body heals. Lack of it can cause an increase in blood pressure, increased heart rate ...all risk factors for heart attacks. So perhaps it isn't so surprising that the study also found that in the Spring, when we move the clocks ahead, losing an hour's sleep, heart attacks  increased by six per cent. 

Dr. Gordon Blackburn, a Cleveland Clinic Cardiologgist, says it's the change on top of a chronic problem that's really triggering an event.  The solution: get plenty of sleep thoughout the year.  So you should enjoy the extra hour this weekend. And in the spring, doctors say it may  be prudent to plan ahead and  make sure that the hour you lose doesn't subtract from your sleep time.