That's Fit

It's too late to try this trick for the holiday weekend, but some scientists at Harvard Medical School think that they may have discovered a "cure" for jet lag.

Normally, sleeping and eating times are dictated by our circadian rhythms, a kind of biological schedule that is at least partially triggered by daylight. When we travel by airplane to destinations that are far out of our time zone, it takes days or even over a week to catch up. Problem is, few vacations last much longer than that.

When the Harvard scientists worked with mice, however, they found that when food was scarce, a second sort of biological rhythm overrode circadian rhythms, which makes sense because if you sleep through dinner, you aren't going to survive long in the wild. It hasn't been tested in humans yet, but these researchers think that if you fast before your next long airplane ride -- at least 16 hours with no food -- you'll beat jet lag a lot faster than your fellow passengers. Worth a try? What do you think?

I know a lot of people who say that they catch some kind of bug every time they fly. There's no doubt that sharing cabin air and sitting in close proximity to a passenger with a contagious illness ups your risk of getting sick yourself.

What's a person to do when they fall ill before a flight? The right thing to do is to stay put to protect your own health as well as the health of others, but getting out of your ticket can be especially tricky.

Travel columnist Elliot Christopher has four tips for travelers who find themselves suddenly and seriously ill before a flight, tips that might just help you skip your flight without losing hundreds of dollars in fees or non-refundable tickets. It's not always an easy battle to win, but it might not be as hard as you think.

This post is not about the end of a study, but about the beginning of one. As of now there is no data on record to suggest that flying frequently has any negative health consequences, but there are many instances of airplane passengers and crew members complaining of ailments like headaches and dry eyes. So many, in fact, that the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers is launching a 2 year study to look at links between aircraft cabin air and crew/passenger complaints of discomfort.

Two years is a long wait, and the experts don't have much to say in the way of coping suggestions in the meantime. Try keeping to your schedule as much as possible, drink lots of water, and put a wet handkerchief over your mouth if it's dry. Other than that, apparently your guess is as good as anyone else's.