 |
Jetlag – Causes, Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment
Author: Corwin Brown  | Posted: 20-05-2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 26 | Rating: (50)  (?) 
Jet lag (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. Jet lag is a unique sleep disorder because its onset is not necessarily caused by abnormal sleep patterns, like insomnia.
Travelers who sleep normally prior to transmeridian travel are not immune to jet lag; the symptoms result when a person's internal clock attempts to acclimate to a new external environment. This acclimation involves circadian rhythms that, among other functions, are associated with the body's management of sleep.
Symptoms
The feelings of disorientation encountered as a result of crossing time zones are known as jet lag. Symptoms include fatigue and general tiredness, inability to sleep at night, loss of concentration, loss of drive, headaches and general malaise. Jet-lag occurs when biological rhythms are disrupted as a result of rapid transitions across multiple time-zones. Such desynchronization of rhythms also occurs in nocturnal shift work employees who transfer to night shifts.
Causes
Traveling through a few time zones at a time is not as disruptive to circadian rhythms as traveling around the world can be. The foremost symptom of jet lag is altered sleep pattern—sleepiness during the day, and insomnia during the night. Jet lag may also include indigestion and trouble concentrating. Individuals afflicted by jet lag will alternate in and out of a normal day-night cycle.
Your body contains it's own internal clock which is powered by the environment around you including such things as temperature, humidity and, in particular, the normal daily change between daylight and darkness. These environmental factors cause your internal clock to run, rather like a normal clock, on a series of 24 hour cycles, sometimes referred to as your body's circadian rhythms.
Here are some tips to help prevent jet lag:
Maintain a sensible bedtime schedule prior to your trip. Don't avoid sleeping in order to make yourself tired.
Go to bed earlier for a couple of nights before leaving if you are traveling east. Go to bed later for a couple of nights if you are traveling west.
For short trips, maintain a schedule of eating and sleeping at your usual time, if possible, while at your destination.
Drink a lot of water. Avoid alcohol and coffee, which dehydrate the body. Also, avoid herbs like ginkgo, which can cause restlessness.
Treatment
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.
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.
Rate this Article:
Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/jetlag-causes-symptoms-prevention-and-treatment-419952.html
|
Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means of generating quality backlinks and targeted traffic to your website. Join us today - It's Free! |
|
Got a Question? Ask.
Ask the community a question about this article:
Q&A Powered by: 
Latest Diseases and Conditions Articles
Panic Attack Tips - 7 Tips to Help Stop Your Panic Attacks Today
By: Peter Johnson | 13/10/2008
It's very easy to explain all the different ways you can overcome panic attacks. It is a different thing to actually overcome them yourself. This article will give 10 basic tips which should help you make you panic attack treatment more effective and more likely to be long lasting.
Pigmentation of the Skin
By: jeniferhobson | 13/10/2008
Some people are genetically predisposed to flawlessly beautiful skins, unfortunately, the rest of us are not so fortunate. Whether it is acne, oily skin, or overwhelming dryness, the majority of people wrestle with some type of skin problem.
Hemorrhoids Treatment
By: jeniferhobson | 13/10/2008
Being a very common condition, hemorrhoids are well researched. Research shows that the best cure for hemorrhoids is prevention. Healthy food diet is the best way to ward hemorrhoids treatment seems not being able to solve the problem completely. Hemorrhoids, treated in the conservative way tend to recur again.
Bleeding Gums Treatment
By: jeniferhobson | 13/10/2008
Do you know where you can find more than five hundred different kinds of bacteria, about a hundred varieties of fungi, and a messy mix of viruses and single-cell microorganisms? You don't need to look too far, because all of these are in your mouth.
Eye Care Home Remedies
By: jeniferhobson | 13/10/2008
The human being is holy with five sensory organs and eyes are one among them. The eyes move a number of times a day to bring the objects in focus. Due to its sharp focus one is capable to see the far-away objects and the minute ones similar to needles.
Immune System – Role of Vitamin C
By: jeniferhobson | 13/10/2008
Having a cold might not to be too toilsome, but the advices can be troublesome and people will simply ask you to follow this and that.
Nonetheless, thinking deeply on the topic possibly will give a better answer to consume vitamin C pills. As well as if you are tending to ask someone for advice, the whole day they will stuff you with remedies.
Arthritis Treatment
By: jeniferhobson | 13/10/2008
For centuries, the history of acupuncture treatment for arthritis has been with us. It provides many pain sufferers with an added or alternative form of relief of their pain. Even though it cannot purposefully succeed on its own, nevertheless it is tested and proven to give great relief to those who need it.
A Combination of Alcohol and Depression Can be Lethal
By: Wangeci Kinyanjui | 13/10/2008
Legal problems are also most likely to catch up with you once you start taking alcohol while under depression. The reason for saying this is that, since alcohol makes one have an impulsive behavior, it is very easy for a depressed person to behave or drive recklessly something that may lead him to land on the wrong side of the law.
More from Corwin Brown
Glaucoma - Symptoms of Glaucoma
By: Corwin Brown | 03/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
There are two major types of glaucoma: open-angle glaucoma and acute closed-angle glaucoma. Most glaucoma patients have open-angle glaucoma. There are usually no signs or symptoms in the early stages of open-angle glaucoma. The first sign is usually loss of vision, which is why the disease is sometimes referred to as the "sneak thief of sight." Vision loss caused by glaucoma cannot be restored.
Coxsackie Virus – Information on Coxsackie Virus
By: Corwin Brown | 03/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Coxsackie virus (also written as coxsackievirus) is a member of the Picornaviridae family of viruses in the genus termed Enterovirus. Coxsackie viruses are subtype members of Enterovirus that have a single strand of ribonucleic acid (RNA) for its genetic material. The Enteroviruses are also referred to as picornaviruses (pico means "small," so, "small RNA viruses"). Coxsackie virus was first isolated from human feces in the town of Coxsackie, New York, in 1948 by G. Dalldorf.
Coxsackie Virus – Symptoms, Causes and Treatment
By: Corwin Brown | 03/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Infection usually is spread by fecal-oral contamination, although occasionally the virus is spread by droplets expelled by infected individuals. Items like utensils, diaper-changing tables, and toys that come in contact with body fluids that contain the virus may also transmit them to other individuals.
What is Fibrocystic Breast Disease?
By: Corwin Brown | 02/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Fibrocystic breast disease is common and usually benign condition. Symptoms include swollen, tender breasts, and/or one or more lumps. Frequently, symptoms worsen just before a woman's menstrual cycle, subsiding near the end. For the majority of women these symptoms are a temporary discomfort; however some women experience severe pain.
Symptoms of Infertility
By: Corwin Brown | 02/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
The first obvious symptom of infertility is the inability to conceive. Unfortunately, most women or men won't discover their infertility until they have tried unsuccessfully to conceive for a period of time. Usually, it takes many tests and exams to come to the conclusion of an infertility diagnosis, but there are a few symptoms to be on the lookout for. A range of emotional and social problems and tensions between the couple regarding childlessness.
Fibrocystic Breast – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
By: Corwin Brown | 02/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Fibrocystic breast condition is a common, non-cancerous condition that affects more than 50% of women at some point in their lives. The most common signs of fibrocystic breasts include lumpiness, tenderness, cysts (packets of fluid), areas of thickening, fibrosis (scar-like connective tissue), and breast pain.
Fever Blister – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
By: Corwin Brown | 02/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) can cause infections that affect the mouth, the face, the genitals, the skin, the buttocks, and the anal area. This article will concentrate on non-genital herpes. Many people acquire the virus and have no symptoms. For others, painful blisters appear near the area where the virus entered the body.
Fever Blister - Home Remedies for Fever Blister
By: Corwin Brown | 02/06/2008 | Diseases and Conditions
Fever blisters are caused more often by the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) than herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). As a matter of fact, more than 85 percent of the world's population has been infected with HSV-1. These infections follow the usual course of herpes simplex virus infections in that the first outbreak is usually more painful and lasts longer than recurrent infections.
|
|
Health 
