San Antonians will gain an extra hour when daylight saving time ends on Sunday, October 25. Dr. Victor Lam, medical director of the Sleep Evaluation Center at Metropolitan Methodist Hospital, says that San Antonians should make the most of this extra time. For an easy transition to the new time, he advises everyone to get up at their normal waking time on Sunday instead of sleeping late. “This is a good opportunity for parents with children who have a difficult time getting up in the morning. A child who wakes up at his normal time, say 7:30 a.m., will be getting up at 6:30 a.m. with the time change,” said Dr. Lam. “If a child has been late getting up for school, this extra hour will put him on schedule.” Dr. Lam notes that Sunday is the day to add the hour, before your body adjusts later in the week and goes back to its previous wake-up time. He says the fall time change is easier on most people than the spring time change because people tend to want to set their clocks later rather than earlier. Dr. Lam would make a good interview for your stories reminding San Antonians about the time change.

If you are interested in doing a story, please phone Shirley Wills at 822-2378 or 860-5289 (cell) or JoAnn King, 575-0171 or 604-3013 (pager). For media assistance during the weekend, please phone Methodist Hospital, 575-4000, and ask for the public relations representative on call.