Health and Fitness: Headaches Migraines Article Category

Have you noticed how you get a headache and a feeling of disorientation when you travel from one part of the globe to another? Say the trip is from a Western country to an Asian one. Upon your arrival, you are likely to feel fatigue and even a mild sense of depression. In some cases, you would even become irritable and groggy. You can also develop diarrhea or its counterpart constipation. Or, you may also suffer from a temporary bout of insomnia.

All of these symptoms are indicative of a jet lag. Known in the medical field as desynchronosis, jet lag is classified all the same as a physiological condition, a mental state and a sleeping disorder. But as a whole, the condition refers to the way your body reacts when it is exposed to a change in time zones. For example, if you leave from Paris on your way to New York, chances are your biological clock is still attuned to the Parisian time. So when you get to New York, which is 6 hours behind the Parisian clock, your body's sleeping pattern and physiological orientation is disrupted.

Medical researchers have attributed to jet lag most of the immunity problems that are experienced by travelers. Immunity problem refers to your susceptibility to be affected by a number of infections. This is because your biological clock helps in the production of a particular type of protein that in turn aids in the detection of harmful bacteria.

Another effect of jet lag is a disturbance in your sleeping pattern. When you travel from one place to another, and effectively cross time zones, your body adapts to a change in climate, temperature level and the surrounding noise. This is why most people who are jet-lagged tend to experience difficulty in falling asleep easily in the new place. This is not to mention the hours you spend awake even if your body already tells you that it should be resting at that time-just because your surroundings are still very much alive.

Finally, jet lag's symptoms affect your social and physiological functions. As your sleeping pattern suffers and your symptoms continue to bother, you would find it more difficult to communicate with people around you as well as perform different tasks that involve physical and mental well-being.

However, you need not worry because as in most conditions, jet lag lasts only for a few days until you have adjusted to your surroundings. If you always experience jet lag, better consult a doctor first before your travel to get the best advice to prevent jet lag.