Trying to understand jet-lag

1999/10/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

Lack of concentration, sleep discontinuity, difficulty for physical and/or mental work as a result of travel, relay changes, etc. Many times. That is jet-laga and to avoid it it is essential to know what causes and understand why. Dr. Jim Waterhouse, who has done research on this, has given some clues.

The biological clock is regulated by two areas located in the hypothalamus. Long trips or changes in work relays cause both areas to lose synchronization with sunlight and to need time again to achieve balance.

Some researchers have used melatonin to advance or delay the clock, but melatonin is not useful for everyone. That's why they want to understand how light affects the body clock. Body temperature drops around four in the morning and for the next six hours it has been observed that if the body receives any pulse of light, the clock will move forward. If you get the pulse in the 6 hours before 04:00, the clock is delayed. If the light appears at any other time it does not affect.

This allows us to calculate the time when it is convenient to be in the light or in the dark before traveling to the West or East. In any case, after the return we will need about five days to recover the balance.