Long-haul travelers will be more than familiar with the interference with their sleep pattern and the insomnia which can result from a long trip, in addition to such things as changes in mood, irritability, gastro-intestinal problems and difficulty in handling information. However, for the very frequent flier these usually transient symptoms become a part of everyday life and are often joined by menstrual cycle problems for women and even by short-term psychiatric disturbances for some people.

The chief factors which influence the degree of jet lag which you experience, apart from how often you travel, are the distances involved, the direction of travel and how old you are.

If you frequently travel across only one or two time zones then any affects are likely to be extremely mild. However, once you begin to cross more than three time zones, and especially when you start frequently traveling over six or more time zones, symptoms will begin to increase markedly.

The symptoms of jet lag are also much more evident when you are traveling east and affect you less when flying west. If you travel from London to Singapore on holiday for example you will experience more jet lag on arrival in Singapore at the start of your holiday than you will in London when you return.

Generally when you are flying east you can expect jet lag to last for a few days and a good guide is approximately two thirds of the number of time zones crossed. For example, if you travel across six time zones you should expect jet lag to affect you for approximately four days. When traveling west jet lag should be expected to last about half of this time.

Age is also a significant factor when it comes to jet lag and, as your age increases, 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 lot that can be done to help in reducing the symptoms of jet lag.

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