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'' ' CIRCADIAN SCIENCE
CIRCUITRY ' ''
IF I HAD TO FLY STANDING ON MY HEAD to avoid the jet lag unleashed by 13 time zone changes, I would have.
Instead, while everyone else dined on the night flight to Singapore, I sat in the dark, and, after we arrived, rotated like a sundial around a south-facing office window.
This jet-leg remedy was prescribed by Timeshifter, an app that is among a spate of new approaches to what scientists say is the cause of jet lag : Out-of-whack circadian rhythms, also known as your 24-hour biological clock.
Circadian science, newly embraced by airlines, hotels and airport lounges in the form of light therapy, prescribes bright light for wakefulness and warm light to prepare to rest. Light exposure helps reset the clock, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
''Nearly all species have an internal or circadian clock which has evolved to allow us to interact with the outside world,'' said Steven W.Lockley, a sleep expert and associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
He has worked with NASA astronauts using circadian science to enhance their alertness and is a partner in Timeshifter.
Jet lag happens when we travel too fast for the brain to adjust. Now the travel industry is catching on. In October, the Australian airline Qantas tested on New York-to-Sydney flight a system that included monitoring passengers for movements, light exposure and attention.
The research will be used to determine, among other things, whether the standard order of events on night flights - meal service and dimming the cabin lights - should be altered to help passengers adjust to the destination time zone.
Some airport lounges have installed special lighting to help passengers shift.
Before their 170 hour flight to London from Perth, Qantas passengers in premium cabins can use the international transit lounge. The SAS premium lounge in Oslo has a ''daylight booster zone'' that exposes fliers to artificial bright light.
Hotels are jumping on the circadian bandwagon, too. The Tampa Marriott Water Street hotel in Tampa, Fla, has, 35 rooms with ''circadian mood lighting.'' which changes hues to follow the cycle to bright to soft light.
Instead, while everyone else dined on the night flight to Singapore, I sat in the dark, and, after we arrived, rotated like a sundial around a south-facing office window.
This jet-leg remedy was prescribed by Timeshifter, an app that is among a spate of new approaches to what scientists say is the cause of jet lag : Out-of-whack circadian rhythms, also known as your 24-hour biological clock.
Circadian science, newly embraced by airlines, hotels and airport lounges in the form of light therapy, prescribes bright light for wakefulness and warm light to prepare to rest. Light exposure helps reset the clock, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
''Nearly all species have an internal or circadian clock which has evolved to allow us to interact with the outside world,'' said Steven W.Lockley, a sleep expert and associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
He has worked with NASA astronauts using circadian science to enhance their alertness and is a partner in Timeshifter.
Jet lag happens when we travel too fast for the brain to adjust. Now the travel industry is catching on. In October, the Australian airline Qantas tested on New York-to-Sydney flight a system that included monitoring passengers for movements, light exposure and attention.
The research will be used to determine, among other things, whether the standard order of events on night flights - meal service and dimming the cabin lights - should be altered to help passengers adjust to the destination time zone.
Some airport lounges have installed special lighting to help passengers shift.
Before their 170 hour flight to London from Perth, Qantas passengers in premium cabins can use the international transit lounge. The SAS premium lounge in Oslo has a ''daylight booster zone'' that exposes fliers to artificial bright light.
Hotels are jumping on the circadian bandwagon, too. The Tampa Marriott Water Street hotel in Tampa, Fla, has, 35 rooms with ''circadian mood lighting.'' which changes hues to follow the cycle to bright to soft light.
On my recent Timeshifter trial, I could compare the results with that of a miserable trip to Singapore two years earlier, in which I tried to sleep as much as possible on the outbound plane and was up half the night for days, thanks to the 13-hour time difference.
Timeshifter considered my itinerary [from Chicago], my sleep type [early bird versus night owl] and my usual sleep routine [bedtime and wake time', and gave me a schedule to follow beginning a few days before departure.
Aboard the plane, the app told me take melatonin, a sleep-related hormone sold as an over-the-counter supplement, and go to sleep immediately. I put on eye shades and noise-canceling headphones and stayed in the dark for seven hours.
Mid-flight I was prompted to wake up, use caffeine and see ''see bright light.'' I ordered coffee, turned on the overhead lights and watched movies with the screen dialed up to its brightest while everyone around me slept.
In Singapore, I felt clearheaded and was able to focus during afternoon meetings despite landing there at 7 a.m. local time.
I followed the Timeshifter schedule, which dictated periods of bright light, some light, avoid light [or wear sunglasses if you can't] and sleep for each day abroad and four days after my return. It took strict adherence, but it worked.
Not everyone has had such results. Melisse Gelula, the New York-based cofounder of the media company Well & Good, has tried Timeshifter twice on Asia trips and said the results were better with the app, if not fully curative.
The Honor and Serving of the latest Global Operational Research on Circadian science continues. The World Students Society thanks author Elaine Glusac.
With respectful dedication to the Travelers All, Grandparents,Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world.
See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society - for every subject in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - !E-WOW! - the Ecosystem 2011:
''' Life & Light '''
Timeshifter considered my itinerary [from Chicago], my sleep type [early bird versus night owl] and my usual sleep routine [bedtime and wake time', and gave me a schedule to follow beginning a few days before departure.
Aboard the plane, the app told me take melatonin, a sleep-related hormone sold as an over-the-counter supplement, and go to sleep immediately. I put on eye shades and noise-canceling headphones and stayed in the dark for seven hours.
Mid-flight I was prompted to wake up, use caffeine and see ''see bright light.'' I ordered coffee, turned on the overhead lights and watched movies with the screen dialed up to its brightest while everyone around me slept.
In Singapore, I felt clearheaded and was able to focus during afternoon meetings despite landing there at 7 a.m. local time.
I followed the Timeshifter schedule, which dictated periods of bright light, some light, avoid light [or wear sunglasses if you can't] and sleep for each day abroad and four days after my return. It took strict adherence, but it worked.
Not everyone has had such results. Melisse Gelula, the New York-based cofounder of the media company Well & Good, has tried Timeshifter twice on Asia trips and said the results were better with the app, if not fully curative.
The Honor and Serving of the latest Global Operational Research on Circadian science continues. The World Students Society thanks author Elaine Glusac.
With respectful dedication to the Travelers All, Grandparents,Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world.
See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society - for every subject in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - !E-WOW! - the Ecosystem 2011:
''' Life & Light '''
Good Night and God Bless
SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless
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