ABSTRACT
Any long journey gives rise to travel fatigue, regardless of the number of time zones that are crossed.10-12 The main symptoms are a sense of disorientation and increases in weariness and the likelihood of suffering from a headache. These difficulties are due to spending time in a cramped environment with little opportunity for exercise, altered (and often unpalatable) food, and dehydration. Delays and detours during the journey, and possible difficulties after reaching one’s final destination after the journey, are likely to exacerbate the problem, as is the dry and slightly hypoxic air in the cabin when the journey is by plane. It has been suggested that the risk of deep-vein thrombosis is also increased in these circumstances, although the extent to which dehydration, lack of activity, and hypoxia are individually or collectively responsible is unclear.13-22
If the number of time zones that has been crossed is small (less than three), travel fatigue is the only problem, jet lag (see below) being absent. The symptoms
are transitory and can quickly be remedied on arrival at the final destination. Important measures include rehydration (water and fruit juices, not tea or alcohol which promote urine loss), a rest or short nap, some light physical activity, and a shower. Some of these measures (brief bouts of exercise and drinking to minimize dehydration) can be practised also during the journey. Any nap that is taken on arrival should not be too long, so that a full sleep can be taken when it is night; such a nocturnal sleep can be taken as easily as in the departure zone, since night at the destination and place of departure coincide.
