What is Digg?34 Comments
- hiPpymIck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22you have to register so.....
A study at the University of Virginia released during the height of Thanksgiving and Christmas travel seasons showed that a majority of elderly mice died while being subjected to the equivalent of a Washington-to-Paris flight once a week for eight weeks. More intense forms of jet lag sped up the death rate in the elderly rodents, the study found.
For decades, flyers have stoically battled the modern-age problem of jet lag, viewing its accompanying grogginess, burning eyes, headaches, insomnia and fatigue as more of a nuisance than a potential health issue.
The study has focused new attention on the problem and raised questions about whether severe jet lag can be harmful to health. It also has drawn attention to work by other researchers looking into ways to help vacationing families and business travelers avoid jet lag. The study is one of the first hard scientific looks into the health effects of jet lag, experts said.
The condition has become such a common scourge of the jet age that an entire industry has emerged on the Internet, offering such solutions as acupressure kits, homeopathic pills and light-enhancing visors. Many travelers have invented their own treatments: slurping down gallons of coffee, dunking heads in ice-cold water, taking naps, jogging and popping sleeping pills and homeopathic remedies. But researchers say few of those remedies are backed by science.
In the study, 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.
Researchers aren't sure what conclusions to draw from the results.
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, Block said minutes before boarding a 14-hour flight to Japan from Washington.
"I feel like a subject in the experiment," said the 58-year-old, who recently returned from a conference in Italy. "Like many people, I am finding it more difficult to cope with jet lag as I get older. . . . I would like to know whether it's a phenomenon of old age or whether it is something I really have to worry about."
Block's study also hinted at what flyers have been saying for years: It is more difficult to adjust to time zone changes when flying east. The researchers found that 53 percent 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 percent 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 percent of the mice in a control group died in the eight-week study.
ps its ok it only affects "elderly rodents"
my longest post EVER! - stlcadet11, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7...you don't have to register
- foolfromhell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"and my biological clock was thrown out of whack for almost a week."
Ive used "Biological Clock" in the same context before, and was ridiculed for a week.
make sure you dont either. - shirosamurai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The last time I went to Japan I stayed up for 24 hours before my flight and slept for a small bit on the plane (would have gotten more if it wasn't for the seats).. I adjusted to their time pretty quickly, despite it being almost an AM/PM reversal for me. On the way BACK, however... I was wrecked for like 2 weeks straight - couldn't get to sleep till about 7 AM every 'night'. As the above article mentions, lag from traveling east is more severe - hence why it wasn't so bad going to Japan, but horrible coming back. Tried lots of coffee, tried sleeping pills, the whole works.. my body just didn't want to adjust to the time at home - luckily it was during the summer, so I had no classes to worry about...
- masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Simple solution:
If you're going to get to another country during the middle of the day, sleep on the plane. If you're going to get to another country at night, DON'T sleep on the plane and if you do, make sure to sleep as little as possible.
When I went to Japan -- there's a +14 hour difference from here in Indiana to Japan -- I didn't sleep at all on the plane. I found that when I got to my host family's house (at around 10:00pm) and went to bed, I woke up at a normal time and had ZERO jet lag. It was a fantastic experience being fully refreshed after a trip that everyone warns you about how bad the jet lag can become. However, on the way back, I slept for several hours on the plane and get back to my home at around 6:00pm. I couldn't fall asleep until 4:00am and my biological clock was thrown out of whack for almost a week.
Just alter your sleeping schedule beforehand. Try to make sure that you can fall asleep at the same time that they do in the other country. If your plane leaves in the morning, get up extra early so that you can sleep more easily on the plane. If your plane leaves later, sleep in as long as possible, maybe do some exercise to wear yourself out before you get on. Fixing jet lag is as simple as going to bed at the normal time at wherever your destination is. - masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@shirosamurai:
I had the -exact- same experience. I attributed to the fact that I stayed awake long enough so that I could go to bed at 10:00pm Japan time (which required me to stay awake for ~30 hours, but it wasn't so bad) going there, whereas I stayed on Japan schedule on the way back and couldn't fall asleep until sunrise here in America. - sinooka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3way to re-post the link in the comments. you must be suffering from digg-lag.
- hiPpymIck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4how about Digg lag?.........................................................(brought about by too much Diggin at odd hours)
- uday0210, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3were we doing an experiment on the mice, or was it the other way around?
- Burritovision, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2these are rodents that can be scared to death. did they note the causes of death? bogus.
- vernsan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Thanks, I just had to find this right before my flight tomorrow out of country.
- flxfxp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i just came back from a 9 hour flight going east, still doesnt feel good
- Midnightbrewer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thank God I live in Japan. It makes visiting the folks hard, but coming home is easy. At least when you're on vacation, nobody cares about when you go to bed or get up.
- TKardinal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Be that as it may, is it likely that people will actually NOT fly as a result of this? Very unlikely.
- dicerandom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Great. I'm boarding a flight to Europe in about 9 hours.
My anti-jetlag plan: I'm not sleeping tonight, I'll sleep on the plane while we're over the atlantic and wake up upon arriving at local morning. - Modulo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Jet lag may be more harmful than we think" as in.. what? Harmful at all? This story is approximately as important as discovering that the average person's hair grows a millimeter more a year than previously thought.
- tektalk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1In truth, Jet lag sucks ass at times, whether harmful or not.
so why make it worse?[Washington Post]? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ masamunecyrus:
I totally agree with you. When i had to fly Sydney to Denver last year, i just deprived myself of sleep for about 30 hours and slept at around 2am Denver time. I woke up at about midday and had no jetlag whatsoever - timxpx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i have 'delayed sleep phase syndrome'
it feels like i have jet lag every time i get up in the morning for work. - WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"I bet old mice shouldn't live in a city or a place with tons of cats either - they might die quicker too. *gasp*"
After recent tests on mice, 'scientists' have concluded that humans should avoid cats at all costs.
They also requested more grant money for further research. - Herolint, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@masamunecyrus
I have been to Japan numerous times and going from America to Japan is never a problem. I have no jet lag whatsoever going to Japan. It kills me when you come back. For the first few days I go to sleep at 10:00 pm, wake up at 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, stay wide awake until 11:00 am, and then simply die through the rest of the day. - WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Further research by these same 'scientists' has indicated that hamsters actuallly do well from jet flights, while mice don't do so well.
Thus, they now recommend that flying is perfectly safe for people who are more like hamsters, and unsafe for people who are more like mice. - scottelsdon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I just flew back to Germany from New Zealand, a 12 hour difference, spending two weeks here and goign back via LAX. It honestly hasn't been bad at all, just flipping 12 hours, just like doing a night shift for two weeks. Trick is to stay awake till at least 10pm. Dont be tempted to sleep earlier, and mentally realise its 10pm at night, not 10am.
- masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@BLueSS: Our bodies aren't meant to be at 30 000ft, either. That's why they pressurize the cabin so that our bodies think we're at sea level.
- Tenlow, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I've never been affected by jet lag. Even on transatlantic flights. My guess is because I'm used to sleeping odd hours and sitting in one place for long periods of time.
In fact, I've just discovered the cure for jetlag. The internet. - xGORDOx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Did anyone really think that being hurled through the atmosphere at 600 miles an hour in a metal tube was going to have positive results?
- abalith, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Dugg that. Things like this happen everywhere.
- WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Forget about all the stupid mouse research...designed to make money for the ignorant researchers with their ignorant pseudo- science.
The FIRST way to eliminate the deleterious effects of jet lag in HUMANS....would be to NOT starve us of oxygen by lowering the cabin pressure during flights.
Many people still believe that the cabin pressure is slightly higher....but it is in fact LOWER = less oxygen.
This is supposed to make passengers more docile or something.
We PAY those bastards for our flights, but they care only about our money, and not about our health.
And then they conceal the fact that they are starving us of oxygen!
Such corporations need to be reigned in. They need to serve the common good, rather than the pockets of the few who own them!
But I wonder if we ever will all wake up and do what is needed to make this happen!
Another horrific practice is that they keep the engines idling, and make us sit on the runway, with the air system sucking in all that nice jet-fuel exhaust....sometimes for an hour before liftoff! Bastards! - WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@masamunecyrus
"That's why they pressurize the cabin so that our bodies think we're at sea level."
You really don't know what you are talking about at all, sir.
The cabins are NOT PRESSURIZED, or even kept at one atmosphere, as if at sea level. The cabins have lower pressure!
...Less than one atmosphere.
Try this experiment.
Open a plastic water bottle, while at full altitude during a flight. It is best if it is at least half empty.
Then close it.
Now it has the exact same air pressure inside as the cabin you are in.
Then, look at that bottle after the plane has landed, and you are back at one atmosphere/sea level.
Note how the unopened bottle is being crushed by the higher air pressure outside, to about half its original size!
Next time you go spouting your beliefs, please check first to see if they are actually true or merely things you were told and believed!
Oxygen starvation for several hours, coupled with dead, processed air and a large dose of Jet fuel exhaust at the beginning of the flight, as you sit on the plane before takeoff....and you have a formula for feeling really terrible and getting really toxified.
And we PAY for that kind of abuse by the damn corporate pigs! - BLueSS, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2The effects of mice being at that high of an altitude for that prolonged amount of time is something their bodies were never made to endure. Sure one could say that the effects are the same on us, but they're not. The air pressure is a lot different for the body of a mouse compared to the human body.
I bet old mice shouldn't live in a city or a place with tons of cats either - they might die quicker too. *gasp* - oregonian, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This information would be nice If I hadn't thrown up a bunch, right before the taxi came to take me to the airport, to take me to Miami, to go on a cruise! But NOOOOOO I have to be stuck at home... the worst part was that I fully recovered the next day.
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