Jet Lag Is Part Of Life For Frequent Fliers

Dealing with jet lag is not too hard for people who only fly once in a while, perhaps once or twice a year on vacation or for the odd business trip, but for aircrews and those of us who fly regularly, jet lag frequently brings in its wake a number of health problems that can become virtually permanent.

Long-haul travelers will be familiar with the disruption to their pattern of sleep and the insomnia which can be produced by a long trip, as well as such things as irritability, changes in mood, stomach problems and difficulty in processing information. But, for very frequent fliers these normally transient symptoms become a part of daily life and are frequently joined by menstrual cycle problems for women and also by short-term psychiatric problems for a number of people.

The major factors which influence the degree of jet lag experienced, aside from the frequency of travel, are the distances involved, the direction in which you travel and how old you are.

If you are regularly traveling across just one or two time zones then any affects are likely to be very mild. However, as soon as you begin crossing more than three time zones, and particularly when you start frequently traveling over six or more time zones, jet lag symptoms will start to increase markedly.

The symptoms of jet lag are also far more obvious if you travel east and tend to affect you less if you fly west. If you travel from London to Singapore on vacation for instance you will experience greater jet lag when you arrive in Singapore at the beginning of your holiday than you will in London when you get home.

In general when you fly east you can expect jet lag to last for several days and a good guide is about two thirds of the number of time zones traveled across. For instance, if you fly across six time zones you could expect jet lag to affect you for approximately four days. When flying west jet lag should be expected to last for about half this time.

Another important factor when it comes to jet lag is age and, as you get older, you will discover that you are increasingly affected by jet lag.

A true jet lag cure does not exist although there is a great deal that you can do to help in reducing jet lag symptoms.

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