Headset That Promises to Help Travelers Fight Jet Lag

Headset That Promises to Help Travelers Fight Jet Lag

Most people experience jet lag — the disorienting, zombie-like condition that affects the rhythm of travelers who fly across multiple time zones.

“We all have an internal sleep clock that controls things like hormones, mental function and attention,” said Gary Trock, M.D., co-director for Sleep Evaluation Services at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. “And jet lag is caused by that clock being misaligned with our environment.”

Travelers attempt to combat jet lag with all their might from over-the-counter and prescribed sleeping pills to herbal concoctions, melatonin, special diets, bright lights, exercise, etc. just to force themselves to stay awake and moving when their bodies say “sleep.”

Finnair is recently conducting a test to see if passengers can fight jet lag by sticking light in their ears.

Air travelers on the airline’s flights between Helsinki and Shanghai will be asked to try bright light headsets which are supposed to help combat jet leg by sending bright light to the photosensitive regions of the brain through the ear canal.

The small device, designed by Finland-based Valkee, looks like an iPod but has earphones that emit light instead of music.

The light sent by the device “brings about an element of well being that stimulates passengers and helps them to adapt better to jet lag and the fluctuation of the circadian rhythm,” the airline said in a statement.

During the one month test, which is set to begin in April, passengers on Finnair’s eastbound flights to Shanghai will be asked to use the light-emitting headsets about an hour before landing, when it’s early morning in Shanghai. Passengers headed west, toward Helsinki, will be required to use the Valkee about halfway through the flight, when it’s morning in Europe. When they reach their destination, passengers who participate in the test will then be asked to fill out questionnaires.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Thursday March 15 2012, 5:28 AM EST. Ref: Yahoo. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Travel. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0