Jet lag is when your usual sleeping pattern is disrupted following a long flight.
It doesn’t have to spoil your travels though, and it normally improves after a couple of days once your body has got used to the new time zone. Order jet lag treatment online and get the most out of your next trip.
Your body clock works according to the hours of daylight and the rising and setting of the sun to keep you in-sync with the environment you live in.
When you travel to a different time zone this can be disrupted, causing your body to struggle to adapt. It can be common for you to feel like you need to sleep in the middle of the day, or to feel wide awake at bedtime. You might also feel irritated, or like you’re struggling to concentrate.
Jet lag can also affect your digestive system if your meal times become out of sync with what your body is used to, causing indigestion, nausea and constipation.
Anyone who travels through different time zones can experience jet lag. The more significant the time zone change, the more disruptive jet lag tends to be. When travelling from Europe to America, for example, the time difference can be between five and seven hours, meaning that it can often be daytime in America when it’s night time in Europe. This can cause your sleep schedule to become disrupted as you get tired earlier than normal.
Jet lag is usually worse when travelling east, because you ‘lose’ time and have to stay awake for longer, which can make it more difficult to adjust .
You might also suffer more from jet lag as you age, because you produce less of the sleep hormone ‘melatonin’ as you get older.
Jet lag is very common among people who travel by plane, particularly those who travel east over long distances.
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Jet lag: current and potential therapies. P & T : a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management, 36(4), pp.221–31.
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