Travel and Vacations

Jet Lag Causes and Remedies

Story Published on September 13, 2008 ⋅  Email this Story ⋅  Print this Story ⋅ Post a comment ⋅

Physiological processes of all living beings like animals and plants work on a 24-hour rhythm, one complete cycle per day. We call it our “body clock”. When you pass through a number of time zones in a short period of time, say from Houston to New York, your body clock loses its sync. It cannot adjust to the destination’s daylight-darkness cycle quickly enough. The result is that you feel disoriented or jet-lag.

A person experiencing jet lag can feel cranky, mildly depressed, as well as forgetful. The person may find it difficult to concentrate, may suffer a loss of appetite and may suffer from disturbed sleep pattern. The may become dehydrated and get swollen feet.

You can become jet lagged when you travel across one or more time zones, not simply because you have spent more time on journey or you have traveled a long distance. A journey from Frankfurt to New York may cause jet lag because it goes across multiple time zones. And yet jet lag is not experienced after a journey from Frankfurt to Johannesburg because it is within the same time zone. Long journeys within the same time zones may give you cramps but not jet lag.

Of course not everyone gets jet lagged to the same extent. Generally older persons are found to suffer less from jet lag as compared to younger ones. Moreover, it is found that women in the reproductive age group are more susceptible to suffer from jet lag. It depends to a large extent on the personal physiological adjustability of each individual person. People who know they normally get jet lagged can take some precautions to avoid severity of discomfort from jet lag.

Prior to your flight get a good night’s sleep. Avoid embarking on the journey under strain; try to spend some relaxed time prior to the flight. Drink alcohol in moderation on the aircraft and, as always, DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. (Aren’t you tired of hearing that?) Get some light exercise such as walking up and down the aisle and a little stretching will help. Remove your shoes and try to stretch your feet, wiggle your toes some.

Many “anti jet lag” preparations are available on market; act on them with extreme caution. Some people suggest taking sleeping pills to get over jet lag; this may, however, have rather unpleasant consequences. Anti jet lag diets are available on the market; but efficacy apart, it is not a very practical solution; it is so cumbersome to carry diet around. An OTC (over the counter) homeopathic drug which said to be effective and it is free of side effects.

Drugs such as Melatonin are advertised as an anti jet lag drug; but you have to start taking it at specific times a few days prior to the journey and continue taking it for a few days after completion of the journey. Its anti jet lag claims are not really supported by research. On the contrary it may lead to worsening of the jet lag symptoms. In fact in UK Melatonin is banned altogether.

In some cases the jet lag condition may persist for many days. Experts suggest that the recovery rate that you can expect from jet lag is “one day per time zone.” Sleep well, eat a sensible diet, relax, and get some moderate exercise are the simplest cures for rapid recovery. How fun does this sound? A vacation is supposed to be a respite from all those “sensible” things. Try to whoop it up anyway. Bon Voyage!

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