Jet lag and sleep phase disorders

Affects millions of travelers worldwide.

Rapid change in time zone produces a constellation of symptoms called jet lag disorder.

Symptoms include difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep, reduced daytime alertness, general malaise, and gastrointestinal symptoms.

Severity of symptoms depends on the number of time zones crossed, times of travel, quality of sleep in flight, circadian time cues at the place of travel, individual propensity, and direction of travel.

A temporary condition; symptoms are self-limited. Treatments include melatonin and alteration of light exposure.

This topic focuses on jet lag. Jet lag disorder is a temporary desynchronization between endogenous body rhythms and exogenous environmental rhythms, caused by rapid transmeridian travel across different time zones, leading to sleep disturbance, reduced alertness, general malaise, and gastrointestinal symptoms.[1]American Academy of Sleep Medicine. The International Classification of Sleep Disorders: Diagnostic and Coding Manual (ICSD-2). 2nd ed. Westchester, IL: American Academy of Sleep Medicine; 2005.