Overcoming jet lag is not too hard for people who jet off around the world infrequently, perhaps just a couple of times a year on holiday or for the odd business trip, but for aircrews and those of us who fly regularly, jet lag often brings in its wake a number of health problems that can become effectively permanent.

Long-haul fliers will be familiar with the disturbance to their pattern of sleep and the insomnia which can be produced by a long trip, in addition to things like changes in mood, irritability, gastro-intestinal problems and difficulty in dealing with information. However, for very frequent fliers these usually transient symptoms become a part of everyday life and are frequently joined by menstrual cycle problems for women and even by short-term psychiatric difficulties for a number of people.

The chief factors in influencing the degree of jet lag that you experience, apart from how frequently you travel, are the distances involved, the direction of travel and your age.

If you are regularly traveling across only one or two time zones then any affects will probably be very mild. However, as soon as you begin to cross more than three time zones, and particularly when you get up to frequently traveling across six or more time zones, jet lag symptoms begin to increase markedly.

The symptoms of jet lag are also far more marked if you travel east and affect you less when flying west. For instance, if you travel from London to Singapore on holiday you will experience greater jet lag on arrival in Singapore at the start of your holiday than you will in London when you return.

As a general rule when you are traveling east you can expect jet lag to last for several days and a good guide is approximately two thirds of the number of time zones traveled across. For instance, if you fly across six time zones you might expect jet lag to affect you for up to four days. If you are traveling west jet lag can be expected to last about half of this time.

Another important factor when it comes to jet lag is age and, as you get older, you will find that you are affected more and more by jet lag.

There is no such thing as a true jet lag cure although there is a great deal that you can do to help in reducing the symptoms of jet lag.

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