ruserious
27th Dec 2006, 18:03
Well its as close as we are going to proof that 900 hours a year of 'back of the clock flying' is not good for us. I know the first reaction our managers will come up with is, well you are obviously not mice, so the study has no validity.......
A STUDY that exposed elderly mice to the ravages of regular long-haul flights found most of them died.
The University of Virginia study showed a majority of older mice died while being subjected to the equivalent of a Washington to Paris flight once a week for eight weeks, The Washington Post reported today.
More intense forms of jet lag sped up the death rate in the elderly rodents, the study found.
Experts say the study is one of the first hard scientific looks into the health effects of jet lag.
Younger mice seemed to rebound more quickly and were not immediately harmed by the jet lag. Simulated jet lag conditions were created by advancing and delaying the rodent's exposure to light.
But researchers aren't sure what conclusions to draw from the results, the newspaper said.
Gene Block, the report's co-author, said older mice might be more susceptible to sudden light changes than younger mice. Or, he said, jet lag might be a health problem that builds up in younger subjects, causing future maladies.
To further explore the issue, his researchers have launched another set of tests to determine whether jet lag causes long-term health consequences in younger and middle-age rodents, Mr Block said.
Mr Block's study also hinted at what flyer's have been saying for years - it's more difficult to adjust to time zone changes when flying east.
The researchers found 53 per cent of elderly mice died when they were subjected to a simulated weekly flight from Washington to Paris over the eight-week study.
The death rate dropped to 32 per cent of elderly mice on a simulated Paris to Washington route, according to the study, which was published last month in the journal Current Biology.
Seventeen per cent of the mice in a control group died in the eight-week study.
Ref: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20975449-2,00.html
A STUDY that exposed elderly mice to the ravages of regular long-haul flights found most of them died.
The University of Virginia study showed a majority of older mice died while being subjected to the equivalent of a Washington to Paris flight once a week for eight weeks, The Washington Post reported today.
More intense forms of jet lag sped up the death rate in the elderly rodents, the study found.
Experts say the study is one of the first hard scientific looks into the health effects of jet lag.
Younger mice seemed to rebound more quickly and were not immediately harmed by the jet lag. Simulated jet lag conditions were created by advancing and delaying the rodent's exposure to light.
But researchers aren't sure what conclusions to draw from the results, the newspaper said.
Gene Block, the report's co-author, said older mice might be more susceptible to sudden light changes than younger mice. Or, he said, jet lag might be a health problem that builds up in younger subjects, causing future maladies.
To further explore the issue, his researchers have launched another set of tests to determine whether jet lag causes long-term health consequences in younger and middle-age rodents, Mr Block said.
Mr Block's study also hinted at what flyer's have been saying for years - it's more difficult to adjust to time zone changes when flying east.
The researchers found 53 per cent of elderly mice died when they were subjected to a simulated weekly flight from Washington to Paris over the eight-week study.
The death rate dropped to 32 per cent of elderly mice on a simulated Paris to Washington route, according to the study, which was published last month in the journal Current Biology.
Seventeen per cent of the mice in a control group died in the eight-week study.
Ref: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20975449-2,00.html