The University of Michigan has released Entrain, a new app that's intended to deal with the effects of jet lag that still affects many travelers today. Research has shown that light is the key to dealing with jet lag, which has been linked to heart disease, and diabetes.
To help work out when you need periods of light and dark, Olivia Walch, a graduate student, developed the iPhone app using this research. People can enter their normal sleep schedules, select where they will be going, and what kind of light they'll be exposed to so that Entrain can then create a personalized sleep schedule.
The app is said to help your sleep schedule improve within 48 hours, and to fully recover from jet lag in just four days. This is a drastic difference compared to the 7-13 days it can take for the symptoms to completely subside without intervention. The app is capable of testing infinite scenarios to determine how to help you overcome jet lag. Studies have shown "that all it really takes is to alter your body's perception of dawn and dusk" reports Fiona MacDonald of Science Alert.
"We thought the answer would be extremely complicated" but it turned out to be simpler than they thought, says Daniel Forger, mathematical biologist at the University of Michigan.
The Entrain app is available for iPhone on the App Store.
Source: iTunes via Science Alert | Image via Shutterstock
14 Comments - Add comment