Beat Jetlag with Re-timer™ Glasses

If you’re a frequent traveller, you’ll know that jetlag is a real concern. When you’re crossing time zones, this knocks out the sync between your internal body clock and the day/night pattern.

Apart from the obvious side effects of being sleepy in the middle of the day or wide awake in the wee small hours, jetlag symptoms include: clumsiness, feeling lightheaded or dizzy, fatigue and a lack of focus. That’s no good if you have to attend an important meeting, give a presentation or even be sociable with colleagues, family or friends.

While our bodies will adjust slowly – in about 3-7 days – there are times when this is inconvenient. Light therapy is the only way to ‘reset’ your natural circadian rhythms quickly, so you can operate at peak efficiency from the moment you arrive.

Re-timer™ glasses are ergonomic, lightweight and produce a 100% UV-free green light which helps to reset your body clock to bring it in line with the local day/night cycle as soon as possible. Re-timer’s green light source has been independently tested for ocular safety and is the most effective wavelength to reset that inner clock.

Wearing the Re-timer™ glasses for 30-50 minutes a day for four days before you leave on a long-haul flight will gradually shift your sleeping pattern naturally, so you can arrive feeling on the ball for that important business meeting.

Travellers use one of the jetlag calculators available on the internet which will customise a schedule for wearing the glasses, depending on whether they are flying East or West.

Re-timer™ glasses were developed in Australia by a clinical psychologist and former president of the Australasian Sleep Association, and a sleep researcher at Flinders University in Adelaide.

Re-timer™ glasses (including an embossed travel case) are available from the New Zealand Respiratory & Sleep Institute (NZRSI). RRP $395 GST inclusive. Email: sales@nzrsi.health.nz  to order.
                                                                                    
Chronotherapy: did you know?

Dr Andrew Veale, who established the first Sleep Laboratory in New Zealand and is now a consultant at the New Zealand Sleep & Respiratory Institute (NZRSI), shares some fascinating facts about Chronotherapy – the science of using light to reset your inner clock.

• The word ‘circadian’ is derived from the Latin - ‘circa’ meaning around or about and ‘dies’ meaning day. Hence, about a day or 24 hours.
• Our circadian clock regulates biological processes including core body temperature and levels of the ‘sleep’ hormone melatonin – two important physiological factors in our natural sleep cycle.
• Light is the strongest synchroniser of the circadian system.
• Melatonin is only secreted at night, and can be supressed by bright light of at least 1500 lux.
• Bright light given in early morning will ‘phase-advance’ a circadian rhythm (i.e. you will feel sleepier earlier in the evening)
• Bright light given in the evening before going to bed will ‘phase-delay’ a circadian rhythm (i.e. you will naturally fall asleep later than normal)
• Computers and television sets generate blue light which can delay the onset of melatonin release and delay sleep onset contributing to phase delay
• Lack of light can, in certain circumstances, result in depression or low mood, particularly in the winter. (Seasonal Affective Disorder - SAD)

The NZRSI is a specialist medical practice that provides respiratory and sleep clinical consultation, lung-function testing and sleep testing as well as undertaking clinical research.