Jet lag is a sleep disorder caused by disturbances in circadian rhythms or the body's internal clock that regulates bodily functions physically, mentally and behaviorally for 24 hours. Jetlag is often considered a common and natural thing for someone who has traveled by plane, but actually has a bad impact on health.
Symptoms of jet lag:
A person affected by jetlag will experience symptoms in the form of:
- Feeling excessively sleepy during the day
- Significant reduction in total sleep time after returning from a flight.
- Experiencing overall body fatigue after a flight.
- Feeling pain in the limbs such as headaches or body aches after a flight.
- Experiencing symptoms of the gastrointestinal tract such as difficulty defecating or diarrhea.
- Feeling restless after traveling.
Where these symptoms are not caused by other health conditions and occur after a person has flown at least through 3 different time zones.
Conditions that increase your risk of developing jetlag
- The direction of travel is to the east
- The length of stay at the destination is less than 3 days
- More time zones crossed
- Travel time starts at night
- Often travels by plane
- Elderly passengers
How to reduce the risk of jetlag?
- Make sure the conditions before going out are fit
- Make adjustments to sleep hours at least 3 days before traveling. If you are going to fly east, try to sleep 1-2 hours earlier than usual, and vice versa.
- Exposure to light is one of the main things that affect circadian rhythms, if you have traveled west, expose your body to a light source at night and if you are traveling east, make sure your body is exposed to light in the morning.
- Drink lots of water when traveling by plane and avoid alcohol as much as possible.
- Try to fall asleep on the plane, especially when using flights at night.
- Avoid flights with transits that are too long.
- Schedule flights that have an earlier arrival time with a schedule of activities at the destination location, to ensure the body can adapt first.
If other symptoms appear such as fever, chest pain, or symptoms of jetlag that are very severe and/or don't disappear after 3 days, it is advisable to consult a doctor.
That's a little explanation about jetlag. Even though these conditions seem normal and mild, these conditions can cause health problems and activity disturbances during and after traveling which can certainly reduce the quality of your trip.
Article written by dr. Andyka Banyu Sutrisno, Sp.KP (Aviation Medicine Specialist at EMC Cibitung Hospital).