The prevention and treatment of jet lag

doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7384.296

BMJ 2003;326:296-297 ( 8 February )

Editorials

The prevention and treatment of jet lag

It's been ignored, but much can be done

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The jet lag syndrome emerged with the rise of long haul air travel. The symptoms include disturbed sleep, increased fatigue,loss of concentration, and increased irritability during the newdaytime, and yet difficulties in initiating and maintaining sleepat night. Long flights are also often tiring and uncomfortable(travel fatigue), and the dry cabin air contributes to dehydration.These effects can be distinguished from those of jet lag by comparingflights across time zones, for example from Europe to Asia, withflights of similar length along the same meridian, say to southernAfrica, which cause travel fatigue but no jet lag. It is worthtrying to minimise travel fatigue in its own right, and simplepractical advice includes (see box).¹

Jet lag is due to the desynchronisation between various body rhythms and environmental rhythms. The rhythm most noticeablyaffected is the cycle of sleep and activity, with the associatedchanges . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

StumbleUpon Add to Technorati

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Article

Does melatonin help people sleep?: Andrew Herxheimer
BMJ 2006 332: 373-374. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Zee, P. C. (2009). Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders. ACCP Sleep Med Brd Rev 4: 63-76 [Full text]
Lu, B. S., Zee, P. C. (2006). Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders. Chest 130: 1915-1923 [Abstract] [Full text]
Herxheimer, A. (2006). Does melatonin help people sleep?. BMJ 332: 373-374 [Full text]
Gordon, H., Kingham, M., Goodwin, T. (2004). Air travel by passengers with mental disorder. Psychiatr. Bull. 28: 295-297 [Full text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

No naps: Frank Shann
bmj.com, 7 Feb 2003 [Full text]
Re: No naps: Steve Hayes
bmj.com, 8 Feb 2003 [Full text]
Children and melatonin: Paul Montgomery
bmj.com, 8 Feb 2003 [Full text]
alternative remedies: Alison E Payne
bmj.com, 8 Feb 2003 [Full text]
Is it dehydration?: Andrew Hoyle
bmj.com, 10 Feb 2003 [Full text]
Who profits from clinical studies, has to pay: Regina B. Stroebele
bmj.com, 10 Feb 2003 [Full text]
Jetlag: Theodore F. Redman
bmj.com, 10 Feb 2003 [Full text]
Apples on aeroplanes: Christine J Reid
bmj.com, 13 Feb 2003 [Full text]
Two perspectives on jet lag: Chris Chung
bmj.com, 14 Feb 2003 [Full text]
Just A Bit More: Ned Hoke
bmj.com, 15 Feb 2003 [Full text]
The prevention and treatment of jet lag: David C McLoughlin, et al.
bmj.com, 24 Feb 2003 [Full text]
Idle speculation from the idle.....: Martin Harvey
bmj.com, 2 Mar 2003 [Full text]
Re: Idle speculation from the idle.....: Steve Hayes
bmj.com, 3 Mar 2003 [Full text]
Intra-glial glycogen stores and jet lag: Richard G Fiddian-Green
bmj.com, 4 Mar 2003 [Full text]