Information About Treatment of Jetlag

Melatonin: 5mg of fast-release melatonin (a hormone) can be an effective method to reduce jet lag. It can be used for several days after arrival. While melatonin is available without a prescription in the USA, it is not available in the UK without prescription.

Sedatives: Zolpidem or zopiclone (benzodizepines) may have a better effect on jet lag symptoms than melatonin but have a higher rate of side effects.
If it is possible to do so, flights should be scheduled so that athletes arrive well in advance of competition. One day for each time zone crossed does leave a cushion of safety, even traveling eastward. The time for adaptation may be shortened by exploiting the external factors that reset biological clocks: rest/exercise, darkness/ light, meals and social influences. The key is to tune in straight away to the external influences of the new environment.

Melatonin is the hormone that controls your body clock. Normally, your brain produces melatonin during the night to help you sleep. Your body starts to make melatonin when it gets dark, and stops when it gets light. The melatonin that's sold as a treatment is a man-made version of this hormone.

Create as dark an environment on the plane as possible. Bright lights have a strong effect on a person's body clock. Use eyeshades and earplugs to help block out the in-flight distractions and convince your body that it is dark. Closing the window shade and turning off the overhead cabin lights may also help. Sleep on the plane if your flight has an early morning arrival time.

A controversial treatment for jet lag is melatonin, a synthetic human hormone that promotes sleep. Several studies have shown that melatonin can alleviate jet lag. When melatonin was examined in scientific studies, eight of the 10 trials found that taking melatonin close to the target bedtime at the destination (10 p.m. to midnight) decreased jet lag from flights crossing five or more time zones. However, other studies show little or no benefit to melatonin in preventing jet lag.

This means that any jet lag treatment plan must look at not just what can be done to reduce the effects of jet lag once you arrive at your destination , but what can be done while you are traveling, and even before you start your journey, to help to reduce its effect, or to even avoid jet lag altogether.

The dry air in aircraft causes dehydration. Drinking plenty of non-alcoholic fluids counters this. Water is better than coffee, tea and fruit juices. Alcohol not only is useless in combating dehydration, but has a markedly greater intoxicating effect when drunk in the rarefied atmosphere of an airliner than it does at ground level.

The most important cue that entrains our body clocks is the rising and setting of the sun. Arriving at your destination time zone in the morning and getting exposure to bright sunlight is exactly what you want to do. If you're in your destination time zone, at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're getting little exposure to light.