| How to beat jet lag
Jet lag can be one of the major downsides to air travel, especially if you spend the best part of your precious holiday battling fatigue, lack of concentration, daytime sleepiness, light-headedness and insomnia What is jet lag? Basic tips
Sleeping pills If taken for two or three nights after arrival, they can help you get some rest until your body catches up. Discuss with your doctor what type might be appropriate, but in general you want something that keeps you asleep but doesn't leave you with a 'hangover.' Aromatherapy Special jet lag kits are available, with carrier oils containing essential plant oils to dab on your wrists, temples and feet. Stimulating essential oils such as grapefruit, cardamom and rosemary help keep you alert and refreshed; calming, sedative oils like lavender and mandarin aid relaxation. Herbal remedies Passionflower, camomile, valerian, lettuce tea, hops and pulsatilla are traditional remedies to calm the mind and induce sleep. These are available as teas or standardised tablets in many pharmacists and health shops. Homeopathy Some homeopaths recommend taking Cocculus 30 twice a day for two days before the day of flight, during the flight and for two days after. Melatonin Light striking the eye registers in the brain in, among other centres, the pineal gland. When night falls and there are no light signals, the gland produces a hormone called melatonin. The more darkness, the more melatonin. Supplements of melatonin, therefore, should act as a kind of override switch, fooling the brain that it's time to feel sleepy, and this appears to be what happens. In the 1980s, researchers from the University of Surrey carried out a trial on volunteers flying to San Francisco and back. Those taking melatonin recovered more quickly from jet lag. Melatonin usually comes in capsules of 2.5mg, 3mg and 5mg. A Swiss study found that fast-releasing tablets, even in dosages as low as 0.5mg, are as effective as slow-releasing ones of 5mg. But despite being on sale over the counter in the US, where it is classified as a foodstuff, melatonin is not available in the UK. The Medicines Control Agency regards it as a drug and it is illegal to sell or market a drug without a product licence. Because the required research is hugely expensive, most pharmaceutical manufacturers understandably prefer to license products that can be patented and therefore exclusive. But as a natural substance melatonin cannot be patented, so offers little incentive for investment. No adverse effects of melatonin supplements have been reported in healthy people so far, although long-term safety studies are not available. It appears to worsen the symptoms of auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis and should be avoided by people with these conditions. Light therapy A blast of light resets the body clock by suppressing the production of melatonin and keeping you awake during daytime at your destination. If you arrive during the day, stay in sunlight as much as possible. Light is measured in lux: 2,500 lux is about the intensity of indirect sunlight when you stand by a window on a clear spring day and you need 1,000 lux to make an impact on melatonin production. Most electric light is about 500 lux, but you might consider it worthwhile to travel with a portable light visor or a photographic light bulb of 500-1,000 watts that you can plug in to top up background light in your room. Researchers at Cornell University found that shining a light on the skin behind the knees just as the body reached its lowest temperature (about 5.30am) could shift the body clock back by as much as three hours, though no one knows why. For lights for the body clock and jet lag contact: For more information read >Jetlag: How to Beat It, by Dr David O'Connell (Ascendant Publishing, 1997) |