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Desynchronosis
(Jet
Lag to the rest of us)
It was November 1, 1884 when
25 international delegates met in Washington DC and
set up time zones for the world. (Did you realize
somebody had to do that?) The International Meridian
Conference generated a treaty that made Greenwich,
England the Prime Meridian (i.e., zero degrees longitude)
and the International Dateline 180 degrees longitude
(in the Pacific). The entire globe was divided
into 15 degree segments, each one hour.
Of course, as with all beautifully-laid
out schemes, not everybody gets onboard, so there's
areas of confusion. For
instance, China spans five time zones, but no matter
where you are in China, it's the same time.
Sovereign nations are allowed to decide what time
it is, but they are the exception, not the rule.
Jet
lag (officially called Desynchronosis) was not invented
in 1884. It had to wait until
transportation methods exceeded the speed our bodies
need to adapt to new time zones. You won't get
jet lagged going by boat, or by car. Only when
you cross multiple time zones in rapid succession
does your body rebel.
We run on "circadian rhythms"
(circa for "about" and diem for "day" in Latin).
These rhythms regulate
when we sleep and wake, as well as temperature regulation,
gland functioning, breathing cycles and kidney function.
For instance, your temperature goes up throughout
the day, then drops dramatically at midnight and begins
to go up again around 6 a.m. Breathing is also
more subdued at night, when your body expects you
to be sleeping. The two peak times of day when
you are most susceptible to sleep are 3 a.m. - 5 a.m.
and again from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Obviously,
if you race across several time zones so that day
is night and night is day, all of these functions
are thrown into chaos.
Jet
Lag Symptoms
Some people call it "tired-wired"
-- the feeling that you're so tired you want to sleep,
but you're so wired you couldn't possibly close your
eyes. Jet lag also
manifests itself in disorientation or fuzzy thinking,
a shortened fuse, and the inability to concentrate.
Though everyone reacts to jet lag differently, in
general it will take up to one full day for each time
zone you crossed for you to fully recover -- fly from
London to Dallas, and it's 6 zones, 6 days.
But it's even more complicated
than that. Flying east to west is better than
west to east. That's because going east to west
you GAIN time. Coming back, you LOSE it.
It's easier for your body to adjust to gaining than
losing those hours. Traveling
north or south within the same time zone does not
result in jet lag at all.
Combating
Jet Lag
There are lots of theories
-- from the scientific to the crack-pot -- for easing
the transition across time zones. The consequences
of jet lag are real. For example, it's an established
fact that professional football teams have worse
records on the road when they have crossed time zones
than when they play away-games within their own
time zone. Negotiators don't do as well when
they are under the influence of jet lag. 9
out of 10 flight attendants and 94% of passengers
report negative effects of long-haul flights across
time zones.
Here
are some tips to try next time you fly:
- Be
rested and relaxed when you go,
not consumed with worry and dashing to the airport.
Get a good night's sleep the night before you
fly.
- If you fly a long
distance, try to
arrive so that it's time to go to bed at
your destination, and sleep. (No red-eye flights.)
- Exercise
as best you can when traveling.
See if you can get your feet up. Take
of your shoes. Do stretching exercises
in your seat; walk up and down in the aisle
or stand for a while; if there's time on a stop-over,
get off and walk for a while.
- If the layover is
long enough, check the airport for shower facilities.
A shower will get
the blood moving and make you feel revitalized.
Pilots who fly over the Pacific and shower in
Hawaii during refueling report shorter jet lag
duration.
- Start
adjusting to your destination while enroute
-- if it's time to eat where you're going, eat
on the plane. If it's time to sleep there,
then sleep on the plane. Bring blindfolds,
ear plugs, pillows, etc. to make sleeping easier.
- Avoid alcohol before
and on the flight. Alcohol
has three times the potency in the pressurized
atmosphere of a plane as it
does on the ground. At that rate, a hang-over
will only complicate your jet lag recovery.
- If you can afford
it, arrive at your
destination a couple of days ahead
of when you really need to be at your best,
so you can acclimate.
- There
are medications you can take, but use them with
caution. Most have side
effects that may be as bad as jet lag, which
WILL wear off if you just give it time.
Some things are endemic
to plane travel and have nothing to do with jet lag,
but they make you feel bad nonetheless. Pressurized
air is very dry, so it's easy to become dehydrated.
Sitting hunched in a seat for hours cramps your internal
organs and causes blood to pool in your legs and feet.
The dryness also contributes to headaches, dry nasal
passages and membranes, and other problems.
So drink lots of water
(better than anything else) even if you have to bring
your own.
The best advice comes from
people who travel tens of thousands of miles every
year on business -- just
don't think about it. The more
you focus on it, the worse you'll feel. |
