Jet lag question

[EngOverspeed]

Hello Everybody!


I'm aircraft maintenance engineer and at the moment preparing for my Human Factors exam.
There is question about jet lag effect. I think you, ladies and gents, can give me some advices, because, I believe, some of you are flying transcontinental.

So, the question is:

With regard to the circadian rhythms, how the body affected after long flight over several time zones?
How can these effects be minimized?

I'm interested very much about second question.


Thank you in advance.

EngOverspeed

[Floaty]

Errr... thanks God you don't really want to know the answer to the 1st question 'coz I would need a dictionary to understand it!

About the jetlag and how to cope with it, mmhhh... well... I think everyone is different. My personal experience taught me these little tricks but I guess it really depends on each individual. What works for me might not work for another, especially considering the age factor (i'm 33), so there you go:

In general
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- it's not just about the jetlag, it's about learning how to sleep
- train your body to sleep little naps / rest during daylight
- get rid of the guilt if you wake up at 2pm... obviously your body needs it and this is normal if you work shifts.
- make sure your bedroom/house is quiet when you're back from a trip (let your flatmates/partner know you're trying to sleep)
- drink plenty of fluids (always)

Before the trip
-------------------
- 2 days before the trip, start going to bed later/earlier than usual depending on the time zone you'll be visiting so that you sort of shift your 8 hours sleep a little
- pack a bottle of mineral water in your crew bag: there is nothing worse than being thirsty and stuck in a hotel room with no water at 3am.

On the plane and abroad
--------------------------------
- if your company doesn't provide a crew rest area during the flight, management deserves to be sued... I could name many airlines but that's not the subject here.
- if you're only going for a bullet flight (less than 72 hours), do not change the time on your watch and eat/sleep when you feel hungry/tired. Don't feel guilty if you want to order roomservice at 3am (if available!)
- socializing and going out for a big night with the crew is nice but don't feel you have to. Your colleagues will miss you but at some stage, if exhaustion kicks in, it's stupid to deny the signals and end up sick. Your colleagues are no different and will understand.
- if you're overseas for more than 72 hours, I think it is however worth adapting to the new time zone (and enjoy dinners/partying out!)
- have a shower before you go to bed, it will relax your muscles and help you fall asleep.
- try to rest with your legs slightly higher than your body, it will help your circulation (and get rid of your platic shoes! Get a proper pair of cabin shoes!)
- eat healthy / cooked food rather than curries, burgers or raw food, especially in 3rd world countries/developping countries. Stomach ache is not gona help you sleep and, worse, you might end up with food poisonning.

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This is pretty much all I do.
Many airlines have a chapter in their cabin crew manual, dedicated to health and safety. You should find useful stuff there.

Now I'm not sure what circadian rhythms are... but if you explain, I'm sure someone will be delighted to give you further information.

Hope it helps,

FJ

[redfred]

circadian's not in the dictionary?

[SyllogismCheck]

Defenition of circadian.....

Biology.

Relating to or exhibiting approximately 24-hour periodicity.


Relating to biological variations or rhythms with a cycle of about 24 hours.


Dont know if this helps at all?

[Kaddyuk]

I recently took human factors @ JAR66 Cat A level and there werent any questions on circadian rhythms however something interesting is apparent from our tuition on them...

Circa - Circle or circular patterns
Dian - Day or Daily

so Circadian is greek for Daily Rhythms...

Circadian Rhythms are a natural "Body Clock" and this is reset EVERY sunrise... This clock causes jet lag. Your body feels in one timezone when your mind is saying that its a totally different time

It helps resets the body clock when you change time zones... Without it, you would find it very difficult to accustomise to different timezones because your mind and body would think it to be one time when infact it isnt...

The facts of Circadian rhythms are that your body temperature is lowest and therefore your performance is not as good between the hours of 4am and 6am. So if you are in the middle of a 12hr shift between those hours, you will perform less well than if you were working the day shift. No matter how much sleep you get.

The resetting of the rhythms means that if you always work the night shift and live your entire life like its a night shift then your body will accustomise to it and your circadian rhythm will change to accompany this. Thats what Jet Lag is like, doing night shift and it being 5am. You feel ****. You are tired and you arent sure what you should eat next.

When you jet lag, try and get into the rhythm of the day @ your destination as soon as possible. It will help your body better.

I dont know about your exam if it is CAA, dont worry about Jet Lag as they wont want to know the intricate details... They just want to know if you understand circadian rhythms. Not JetLag :)

Hope this helps

:ok:

[sinala1]

Experience shows me (albeit domestic red-eye experience, not long haul) that most hotel bars open at 10am, so you always have a post-flight destination! :ok: :E

(although quite embarrasing if you get into sydney at 10am, end up doing a pub crawl through kingsx, end up that afternoon at woolomoolo bay hotel flirting with bar staff, and end up back in hotel lobby at 8pm after a dinner of hungry jacks, to be greeted by crew having their pre-dinner chardy's and you are too smashed to be able to even conduct a conversation with them - err not that I know that from experience or anything :\ )

[Kaddyuk]

Was this any help to you? :)

[EngOverspeed]

Thank to everybody for input. I'm very much appreciated.

Kaddyuk, you are generally right about circadian, excluding some small detail. The word “Circadian” is derived from a Latin, not from Greek.

I'm taking my B1 JAR66 exams at UK CAA (Gatwick). Already done 10 modules. Planning to sit modules 9,10 and Essay on August, 6.

I'm worrying about jet lag, because I'm preparing for Essay exam. As you probably know, Essay paper contains one human factors related question. I've got some sample questions. One of them asking about jet lag.

Again, many thanks to all.

EngOverspeed

[Kaddyuk]

Sorry, lol Latin. LoL, a little bit of a brain fart there hehe...

Fortunatly all my exams are in house because Virgin Atlantic is now a JAR66 Cat A Non-Type approved organisation... :)

I havnt sat module 18 which makes sense about the Jet Lag questions because there wasnt much inside my notes on jet lag. Only the causes of jet lag orientated into understanding Circadian Rhythms