Our bodies have internal clocks that are far more powerful than we realize. The time you wake up. When you eat, and when you bed down for the night are all determined by this internal clock called circadian rhythms.
Most of the time, your body's clock corresponds to your daily schedule which is why you wake up at the start of the day and go to sleep at the end. When you travel across time zones, however, all of a sudden your body's clock and the "external" clocks are out of sync. Jet lag commonly affects air travellers who cross several time zones. It results from the body's internal rhythms being out of step with the day-night cycle at the destination.
What is Jet lag?
Jet lag (medically referred to as desynchronosis) occurs while rapidly crossing time zones, or, more specifically, it occurs after crossing the Earth's meridians. Meridians demarcate geographic position in relation to the Earth's poles and, ultimately, define time zones. The earth is divided into 24 time zones. The time changes by one hour for every 150 degrees of travel east or west of the meridian. Jet lag is a unique sleep disorder because its onset is not necessarily caused by abnormal sleep patterns, like insomnia. It is classified as one of the circadian rhythm sleep disorders.
Jet lag can make you tired and forgetful. It throws off your sleep schedule, so you may have trouble falling asleep or wake up too early. In some cases, people who have jet lag feel irritable, lose their appetites, or even have digestive problems such as heartburn or indigestion.
What causes Jet lag?
It is caused by a significant and rapid change in time zones which result in a difference between the local time and time recorded by your body's internal clock.
For example, let's say that you leave London at 9 pm and fly to New Delhi. The flight lasts 12 hours and you land in Delhi at 9 am London time. However, because you have flown across several world time zones, the local time in Delhi is 2:30 pm. But your body clock still says that it is 9 am.
So you can see the problem. Later in the day when everybody else is going to bed, your body clock will still be showing the time as late afternoon and you won't be ready for bed yet.
What are the symptoms of Jetlag?
The symptoms of jet lag can vary but may include:
- Fatigue
- Sleep disturbance such as insomnia, daytime drowsiness or waking early
- Irritability
- Trouble concentrating
- Headaches
- Stomach upset, diarrhea or constipation
For most people, jet lag is worse when travelling east than west. That's because you lose hours travelling east, which makes the day shorter and bedtime come earlier.
Jet lag symptoms usually last only a few days. The severity of it depends on the number of time zones you have crossed. Expect about a day to recover for every time zone crossed when travelling eastward or 1.5 time zones when travelling westward. For example, if you crossed six time zones when travelling eastward, it may take about six days to recover.
What is the treatment for jetlag?
The treatment can be as follows:
- Few days before leaving for the destination, consider going to bed earlier than usual if you are travelling east; if travelling west, go to bed later than usual.
- The first step is to reset your watch to local time if you haven't done so already. However, if you take regular medication (example for diabetes), watches should remain on home-time until you are able to adjust your medication to local time at the destination, or as suggested by your doctor.
- During extended stopovers on a long-haul flight, try to grab a shower. The best jetlag treatment is Epsom salt bath.
- Eat a protein-packed breakfast, such as an omelet, which will help you stay awake.
- Eat small meals throughout the day while you adjust to the new meal times. Eating and sleeping are your body's time indicators.
- Drink lots of water on any flight to combat the dehydrating recycled cabin air. A cup of water every hour would be ideal. Avoid alcohol and caffeine.
- Soak up natural sunlight to cue your body that it is time to be awake. Or spend your first day in well-lighted places. It has been shown that bright light can help to reset circadian rhythms.
- Add few drops of rosemary oil to 1/2 a cup of water and drink. After few hours, have a tea. This is a very good home remedy for jetlag.
- Take a short nap if you are really weary, but do so before 2 p.m. and sleep for no longer than an hour.
- Get some exercise, but don't overdo it; a good option is a gentle walk outside during the day to get fresh air and keep your body moving.
- Go to bed at a reasonable time. Even if you feel like dropping off at 5 p.m., try to hold out until at least 8 or 9 p.m. so that you won't wake up too early the next morning.
Some travelers with jet lag take short-acting prescription sleeping pills. These medicines may help you sleep better, but they don't treat the other symptoms of jet lag, such as daytime sleepiness. Also, side effects such as headache are common, and some of these medications may be habit-forming. If you take them, use them for a short time only.
