Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren boc obam here with another classic episode
Speaker 1: from our former host, Christian Sagar. This one is for
Speaker 1: all you jet setters or future jet setters out there.
Speaker 1: It gets into the details of why we get jet
Speaker 1: lag and how we can prevent it. Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: I'm Christian Sagar, and today we're going to talk about
Speaker 1: jet lag. I grew up flying back and forth between
Speaker 1: America and Singapore, so I want to share what I
Speaker 1: know about jet lag with you. First of all, jet
Speaker 1: lag occurs when you travel between two or more time
Speaker 1: zones via air travel. And the thing is it disrupts
Speaker 1: your circadian rhythm, your body's natural cycle, and you're sleeping patterns. Now,
Speaker 1: the circadian rhythm is dictated by the daily appearance of
Speaker 1: the sun, so light and darkness influence our bodies. But
Speaker 1: when this is disrupted, its official name is desynchronosis. Symptoms
Speaker 1: include insomnia, fatigue, law of concentration, irritability, depression, and even
Speaker 1: gastro intestinal ills. But look, jet lag or desynchronosis is prevalent.
Speaker 1: A study found that of Americans get it and reported
Speaker 1: that their symptoms were severe. So what causes jet lag. Well,
Speaker 1: there is a whole field that exists to study how
Speaker 1: life is affected by time. It's called chronobiology, and here
Speaker 1: is what it's taught us. First, light triggers a reaction
Speaker 1: in a special eye pigment. This activates a response in
Speaker 1: the neurons of your brains hypothalamus. The twenty nerve cells
Speaker 1: located there. They're called the super chismatic nucleus, or SCN
Speaker 1: for short, are what starts your body's daily processes and
Speaker 1: also the lack of light causes other developments in your body.
Speaker 1: Circadian rhythm tells you when to sleep and when to wake,
Speaker 1: and it regulates your body temperature, blood pressure, digestion, urine production,
Speaker 1: and hormone secretion. So, for example, when it's time to sleep,
Speaker 1: the SCN releases melotonin and that encourages you to go
Speaker 1: to sleep. When you cross into multiple time zones, though,
Speaker 1: your body has trouble resetting quickly, and this is worse
Speaker 1: when you fly east. This is called phase advance. Flying
Speaker 1: west is called phase delay. This is because our circadian
Speaker 1: clock is actually closer to twenty five hours, and going
Speaker 1: east would require going to bed earlier. A study showed
Speaker 1: it takes four days to adjust to a twelve hour
Speaker 1: phase delay. In comparison, it takes more than eight days
Speaker 1: to adjust to a twelve hour phase advance. And also
Speaker 1: jet lag is worse when you have to awaken when
Speaker 1: your body is still at its minimum temperature. There's also
Speaker 1: research from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies that indicates
Speaker 1: jet lag is connected to your l h X one gene,
Speaker 1: and this gene regulates neural development in circadian rhythm and sleep. Okay,
Speaker 1: so we've got what causes it. What are the symptoms?
Speaker 1: How do you know if you've got jet lag? Well
Speaker 1: it's time to talk to Dr Christian. Beyond the insomnia, fatigue,
Speaker 1: loss of concentration, irritability, depression, and even gastro intestinal ills,
Speaker 1: there's even more symptoms. It can aggravate menstrual discomfort or
Speaker 1: contribute to the development of heart disease and diabetes. Jet
Speaker 1: Lag also releases stress hormones, which make you anxious and grumpy.
Speaker 1: It drives up your blood pressure, It sends inflammation stimulating
Speaker 1: chemicals to your arteries. It also disrupts your appetite regulating hormones.
Speaker 1: It disrupts the release of melotonin, which we mentioned earlier.
Speaker 1: Not only does this affect sleep, but it can also
Speaker 1: protect you from cancer. And finally, research on animals shows
Speaker 1: that there's other symptoms as well. A study at the
Speaker 1: University of California found that when subject to jet lag,
Speaker 1: the brains of amsters created neurons at half their normal rate.
Speaker 1: They showed memory and learning deficits, and a two thousand
Speaker 1: six study at the University of Virginia found that younger
Speaker 1: mice rebounded from jet lag, but making older mice undergo
Speaker 1: the equivalent of a Washington to Paris flight every week
Speaker 1: would actually increase their death rate. Yeah, that's how big
Speaker 1: it is. Well for mice at least. So we've got
Speaker 1: what causes jet lag and we have its symptoms. You're wondering,
Speaker 1: Dr Christian, where are the remedies? How do I fix this?
Speaker 1: You've probably heard of some of the common remedies, like
Speaker 1: operating on your new time zone before you fly there,
Speaker 1: or wearing yourself out before exercising by exercising. In two
Speaker 1: thousand nine, researchers recommend the following regimen to beat jet lag. First,
Speaker 1: you readjust your rhythm before the trip by using a
Speaker 1: lightbox that simulates daylight. Now, depending on whether you're flying
Speaker 1: phase advance or phase delay, use the light box either
Speaker 1: in the morning or the evening to stimulate your circadian rhythm.
Speaker 1: Another suggestion from the same researchers was to take a
Speaker 1: melatonin supplement. By changing when you take the doses in
Speaker 1: relation to going to sleep, you can alter your circadian rhythms.
Speaker 1: The c d C actually recommends exercise to a balanced diet,
Speaker 1: and lots of rest in the weeks before you fly.
Speaker 1: They also recommend avoiding alcohol and caffeine, as well as
Speaker 1: drinking water. Finally, they recommend wearing loose, comfortable clothing while
Speaker 1: you're flying and moving around the cabin. This can help
Speaker 1: avoid thrombosis or blood clots, so do not take sleep
Speaker 1: medication so you can sleep it off in your seat.
Speaker 1: Immobilization for long periods can actually raise your risk for thrombosis.
Speaker 1: In this can actually lead to a stroke. So there
Speaker 1: you have it. The causes, symptoms, and remedies for jet
Speaker 1: lay to remember, I'm not a real doctor, I just
Speaker 1: play one on podcasts. Today's episode was written by Christian
Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clain from more on this and
Speaker 1: lots of other topics. Because it has stuff works dot
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