How to minimize the effects of jet lag: We are currently in the midst of the busiest travel period of the year with millions of passengers flying across countries and continents. For many flyers, the effects of jet lag can linger long after their trip ends. Here’s some advice to help minimize these effects.
Once thought to be an imaginary condition or a sleep disorder, jet lag has since been identified as an actual, physiological condition – a chronobiological problem that plagues high-speed air travelers in the millions every year.Simply stated, jet lag – referred to medically as desynchronosis or circadian dysrhythmia – disrupts your body’s internal clock, which manages when you sleep and when you wake. As a result, you may feel drowsy during waking hours and you may tend to stay awake when you need to go to bed. This can lead to cognitive issues such as trouble completing mental tasks and concentrating on the most basic tasks. It can cause headaches, fatigue, irritability, and disorientation to varying degrees; digestive problems and a loss of appetite are also fairly common.
The body’s clock is called the circadian rhythm, and it actually affects physical aspects like the timing for eating, body temperature, the regulation of certain hormones, and other biological conditions. These, in turn, are all influenced by the exposure to daylight, which help us determine naturally when we sleep and when we rise.
Travelling from west to east or east to west to new time zones can throw our rhythms off completely because our bodies are slow to alter their own natural rhythms. Jet lag is a particular problem for pilots, crew and frequent flyers. Airlines take this matter seriously too due to the potential impact it has on pilot fatigue. Moreover, the ill-effects of jet lag can drag out for days and days.
How to minimise the effects of jet lag:
• Select a flight that arrives early in the evening and stay up until 22:00 local time
• If sleep is necessary during the day, take a short nap in the early afternoon for no longer than two hours
• Anticipate the time change for trips by getting up and going to bed earlier several days before an eastward trip and later for a westward trip
• Upon boarding the plane, change your watch to the destination time zone
• Avoid stimulants like caffeine at least three to four hours before bedtime
• Stay hydrated during the flight; dehydration can exaggerate the symptoms of jet lag
• Upon arrival, eat a light meal or snack; avoid large heavy meals; avoid chocolate also
• Eliminate exercise just before bedtime; exercise earlier in the day
• Use sleeping aides like earplugs and blindfolds to better control noise and light; adjust the television volume and close the draperies in your room before you fall asleep to safeguard against common disturbances
• Spend as much time as you can outside; daylight helps to reset internal clocks to correspond with new time zones
• Avoid stress if possible; stress can contribute to sleeplessness
• Bring comforting objects like portraits, a favorite pillow or a blanket, if you feel they will relax you
• If you are a frequent traveler who struggles with jet lag, consult your physician to understand the various therapies available
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Mitch Launius
Instructor Pilot for 30 West IP
Mitch is the CEO of 30 West IP where he is also an instructor providing pilot training on international procedures. With an illustrious career of over 34 years in the cockpit, Mitch has acquired over 13,000 hours of flight time flying worldwide, with over 9,000 hours of this in Challenger and Gulfstream aircraft. He is an experienced safety officer and was also an IS-BAO project manager for a fortune 500 flight department. He has presented on Safety and Operations topics at the NBAA International Operators Conference and the Canadian Business Aviation Association Convention and is currently on the NBAA International Operators Committee and serves as the North Atlantic Regional Lead. Mitch is also a member of an FAA working group on General Aviation International Authorizations and Tabletop Exercises (GIATE). He was recently selected to represent IBAC as a member of the ICAO Personal Training and Licensing Panel (PTLP) and was also recently named as a 2020 recipient of the NBAA Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award for his contribution to the business aviation community.
Henry ‘Duke’ LeDuc
Director Of Operations, Americas, UAS International Trip Support
Duke has been a dearly respected member of UAS Americas team and the UAS global family for more than five years. A safety-oriented, FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he oversees all of the operations of the elite UAS Operations Team. With twenty-five years of experience in aviation overall with more than fifteen years of experience in international flight planning and VVIP trip coordination, he is responsible for the development of the dispatch training program and involved in the strategic development of UAS Americas. With a myriad of rich aviation experience behind him, he has extensive experience in worldwide operations with both corporate and charter environments, including seven years as Operations/Dispatch Manager in an industry-leading, Fortune 500, IS-BAO Stage III Certified corporate flight department. Duke is frequently asked shares his knowledge at major industry events and is currently serving on the NBAA’s International Operators Conference (IOC) Planning Committee.
Dudley King
President and Founder, FlightBridge
Dudley is the Founder and President of FlightBridge, which he established in 2011 and has been focused on technology solutions for the private aviation industry since 2006. Since he graduated from Dartmouth in 1988, he has worked with an array of companies listed anywhere from VentureWire to the Fortune 100. A rare blend of executive, entrepreneur, and consultant, Dudley’s executive roles have included acting CIO positions for several companies and tech advisory services to CEOs trying to rebuild their technology organizations or looking for an external, professional point of view. Highly skilled at deeply understanding his customer’s business challenges and drawing from a long and varied experience in information technology services, Dudley excels at designing technology solutions to solve their problems.
Dr. Paulo Alves
Global Medical Director, Aviation Health, Medaire
Paulo has extensive experience in medical advisory in the aviation industry. As a cardiologist, he provides technical guidance and analysis for MedAire’s MedLink medical advisory service and is MedAire’s liaison with civil aviation regulators and industry associations. Paulo worked with Varig Brazilian Airlines for 23 years, 10 of which were spent as General Medical Manager. A member of the MedAire Medical Advisory Board, Paulo is also President of the Ibero-American Aerospace Medical Association, a member of the International Academy of Aerospace Medicine, a member of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Safety Committee, a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA), and a Fellow of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. Throughout his illustrious career, Paulo has held industry leadership roles including Chairperson of the AsMA’s Air Transport Medicine Committee, President of the Airlines Medical Directors Association, President of the Brazilian Society of Aerospace Medicine and was a member of the IATA Medical Advisory Group from 2002 to 2006.
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