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Dealing with jet lag is quite simple for those of us who fly only occasionally, possibly just a couple of times a year on holiday or for the odd business trip, but for aircrews and regular long-haul fliers, jet lag often brings various health problems which can become more or less permanent.
Long-haul travelers will be more than familiar with the interference with their pattern of sleep and the insomnia which can be produced by a long trip, as well as such things as changes in mood, irritability, gastro-intestinal problems and difficulty in dealing with information. However, for the very frequent flyer these often transient symptoms are a part of everyday life and are habitually joined by menstrual cycle problems for women and even by short-term psychiatric problems for a number of people. So how do you go about managing jet lag?
The chief factors in influencing the degree of jet lag experienced, aside from how frequently you travel, are the distances traveled, the direction of travel and how old you are.
If you regularly travel across just two or three world time zones then any affects are likely to be very mild. But, as soon as you start crossing more than three world time zones, and especially when you begin frequently traveling across six or more time zones, jet lag symptoms start to increase significantly.
Jet lag symptoms are also more evident if you are traveling east and affect you less if you fly west. If you fly from London to Singapore on vacation for example you will experience greater jet lag when you arrive in Singapore at the start of your holiday than you will in London when you get home.
As a general rule when you are flying east you can expect jet lag to last for several days and a good guide is roughly two thirds of the number of time zones traveled across. For example, if you travel across six time zones you can expect jet lag to affect you for up to four days. When flying west jet lag may be expected to last about half this time.
Another significant factor when it comes to jet lag is age and, as you get older, you will find that you are affected more and more by jet lag.
There is no such thing as a true jet lag cure although there is a lot that you can do to assist in reducing jet lag symptoms.
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