Jet Lag

ROME CELEBRATED WEEKENDS The Stars' Guide to the Most Exciting Destinations in the World Rutledge Hill Press, $24.99 In 1990, writer Mark Seal began writing the "Celebrated Weekend" feature in American Way, the magazine of American Airlines. Over the years, he has interviewed more than 300 celebrities about their favorite cities. Now the chats are in book form. Here you will find Edward Norton discussing his favorite things to see and do in Baltimore as well as Mark Wahlberg on Boston, John Cusack on Chicago, Harry Connick Jr. on New Orleans and Tony Bennett on San Francisco (but of course)

BudgetOne way to save on a Florida vacation is to use the free green Traveler Discount Guide to Florida. The guide provides auto travelers with low rates on hotels and resorts. The guide is free at 12,000 locations, or may be ordered by calling 800-332-3948. A $3 shipping charge is made on telephone orders for the first guide, with a cost of $1 for each additional guide; credit cards are accepted.BusinessThe National Sleep Foundation conducts studies on travel-related sleep disorders. Last year, Hilton Hotels published results of several surveys that the foundation has conducted over the past four years.

My wife and I tried your golden raisins and gin for arthritis and we were unimpressed. We have discovered something else, though.Take two teaspoons of Certo dissolved in three ounces of grape juice. Do this three times a day. We have been told to cut back to one teaspoon of Certo in grape juice twice a day after the joints quit aching.We buy Certo in the grocery store near the canning jars. It's simple and cheap and seems to be helping.I am on Coumadin so I can't take anti-inflammatory drugs like Advil or Aleve.

Recently my wife traveled to Europe on a non-stop flight of over eight hours. She became very ill from jet lag, could not sleep and developed nausea.Her friends took her to a French doctor who gave her a drug made by Wyeth labeled Temesta lorazepam 2.5 mg. He said it would make her sleep and ease the nausea, and indeed it worked magnificently.On arriving home my wife once again developed all the symptoms she experienced in France. Her doctor here prescribed lorazepam 0.5 mg, but it did nothing for her. The doctor and pharmacist never saw anything like the pills she got in France, so we have no idea how to get more.

If Robert Hass ever writes a poem about jet lag, he won't lack inspiration.Mr. Hass, the eighth and probably most traveled U.S. poet laureate will be the guest of the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo) Tuesday and Wednesday during his Columbia tour, where he'll read to the public, students and the Rotary Club.It will be his only stop in the Baltimore area, despite a schedule that has him hop-scotching across the country at least twice a month.Chronic jet lag may be his biggest malady.

As soon as the 747 took off from New York's Kennedy Airport at 7 p.m., I put two small white tablets under my tongue and settled back in my seat to see what would happen.I was testing the new cure for jet lag -- melatonin -- a "miracle drug" that made the cover of Newsweek in November and was discussed recently on "Donahue."At least four recent books have touted the wonders of it, including "The Melatonin Miracle" by Walter Pierpaoli and William Regelson (Simon & Schuster; $21), which came out in August and made it to No. 3 on the New York Times best-seller list.

Mencken doesn't live here anymore. The current Sage of Baltimore resides at Odorite, the janitorial supply and pest control company at 1111 Maryland Ave. The sage is always treating passers-by to trenchant commentary posted on a street-side sign. The Wise One had a particularly good one the other day: "Jet lag is nature's way of making you look like your passport photo."A Jeff Davis originalThere is a significant amount of Civil War correspondence in private hands, a lot of it framed and hanging in dens and libraries.

You've flown across the country, checked into your hotel and have a busy week of business -- or pleasure -- ahead of you. The last thing you need is trouble falling asleep.The National Sleep Foundation, in cooperation with Hilton Hotels Corp., has compiled a list of helpful hints about how you can minimize jet lag and get quality sleep when you're traveling:* Do anticipate time-zone changes. Get up and go to bed earlier a few days prior to an eastbound trip and a few hours later for a westbound trip.

Air travelers pay twice for the pleasure of flying to exotic, distant places. There's the ticket to buy, of course, and then there's the biological tab."Jet lag is the price we pay for being able to travel the way we do now," says Lynne Lamberg, author of "Bodyrhythms, Chronobiology and Peak Performance" (William Morrow and Co., (Chronobiology is the study of body time.) But the price may be coming down if major studies confirm what a few small ones have called to light about what has been dubbed "the darkness hormone."

Seoul, South Korea -- When an orchestra and conductor wake up, they can really rouse an audience. That was the experience the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its music director David Zinman had in the National Arts Center yesterday evening in the first concert of the orchestra's Asia tour.In the last movement of Brahms' Symphony No. 1, and in two encores -- Berlioz's "Rakoczy March" and Glinka's "Russlan and Ludmilla" overture -- the BSO and its conductor seemed to leap into life, bringing the audience to its feet in cheers.

Travel season is approaching, and those flying to Europe or heading to the West Coast can expect to experience jet lag. The fatigue, stomach upset and disorientation that occurs is normal, says Dr. Andrea Meredith, assistant professor of physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She offers some suggestions on how to deal with the discomfort. Why do people feel so crummy when they move across time zones? Jet lag, which is what you are referring to, is a disruption of the circadian rhythms.

New drug may offer relief from jet lag An experimental drug that mimics the effects of the hormone melatonin can reset the body's circadian rhythms, bringing relief to jet-lagged travelers and night-shift workers, researchers reported last week. In a study of 450 people who were subjected to simulated jet lag in a sleep laboratory, a team from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that the drug restored near-normal sleep the first night it was used. There were no after effects, minimal side effects and people who took it performed normally the next day, said Dr. Elizabeth B. Klerman, one of the authors of the study published online in the journal Lancet.

He has traveled to so many cities and countries since the Olympics ended, when he wakes up in the morning, it's almost impossible for Michael Phelps to remember the date, or even what day it is. Is today Friday? Or is it Thursday? Without looking at his BlackBerry, he has no clue. Luckily for him, he has people - mainly his agent, Peter Carlisle, and his media manager, Drew Johnson, both of Octagon - to tell him where his schedules dictate that he needs to be. His schedule called for him to be in Baltimore yesterday, marking just the second time he has been home since he won eight gold medals in Beijing.

ROME CELEBRATED WEEKENDS The Stars' Guide to the Most Exciting Destinations in the World Rutledge Hill Press, $24.99 In 1990, writer Mark Seal began writing the "Celebrated Weekend" feature in American Way, the magazine of American Airlines. Over the years, he has interviewed more than 300 celebrities about their favorite cities. Now the chats are in book form. Here you will find Edward Norton discussing his favorite things to see and do in Baltimore as well as Mark Wahlberg on Boston, John Cusack on Chicago, Harry Connick Jr. on New Orleans and Tony Bennett on San Francisco (but of course)

CHARLES F. EHRET, 83 Expert on jet lag Charles F. Ehret, whose research into circadian rhythms in animals and humans led to a diet to combat the effects of jet lag, died Feb. 24. Mr. Ehret died of natural causes in his home in the Chicago suburb of Grayslake, Ill., his family said. In 1983, he published the book Overcoming Jet Lag with co-author Lynne Waller Scanlon. The book outlined a diet using a planned rescheduling of meal times, including types and amounts of food to be eaten to avoid jet lag. It also specified alternate days of feasting and fasting to help speed adjustment to new time zones.

Time waits for no man, particularly when you're rapidly crossing several time zones. Your body just can't keep up. Most long-distance travelers are affected by jet lag, caused by a mismatch between the external clock and their internal clocks. They get to their destination and often feel like they've been run over by a truck. They can't sleep or they feel sleepy at odd times. Perceptual skills and cognitive ability drop. Concentration goes out the window. As motivational speaker and humorist Linda Perret once said, "Jet lag is nature's way of making you look like your passport photo."

Movie stars John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix want to be like firefighters. Better yet, they want to be like Baltimore firefighters! How cool is that? "They're the most humble, modest group of people I know," says Travolta, who plays a fire chief in Ladder 49, the recently released ode to firefighters that was filmed and set in Baltimore. "Their humanity seeps out of them, but they don't want to be looked on as heroes. That's why I love them so much." To Phoenix, whose Jack Morrison is the firefighter at the center of Ladder 49, the resilience of Baltimore's elite was impressive.

Unshaved, suffering from jet lag and pushed only by his training partner, Michael Phelps marked his return to Baltimore with a workmanlike hat trick last night. Two weeks after dominating a pair of meets in Australia, the hottest swimmer in the world lorded over the North Baltimore Aquatic Club's 30th annual Christmas Invitational at the Loyola College Natatorium. In less than 55 minutes, Phelps had three wins and posted two personal bests in the short-course yards format. He won the 200 freestyle by more than seven seconds.

Stars Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno give Jet Lag everything they've got. Too bad the movie doesn't better reward their effort. As mismatched personalities coincidentally brought together - in this case, at an airport - only to fall in love, Reno and Binoche are trapped in a movie-making cliche. That the film works at all is a testimony to their star power, rather than anything director Daniele Thompson (who wrote the script with son Christopher) brings to the table. Binoche's Rose is an overly enthusiastic beautician - one can tell because of all the makeup she unnecessarily trowels on herself - on her way to Acapulco to escape an abusive relationship.

Q. My husband is a commercial airline pilot. Is there an anti-depressant drug he could take safely? He is 53 and flies from California to Europe and back each week. He is on Lipitor to lower his cholesterol. He has tried St. Johnswort, but it hasn't helped enough. Yes, he is tired from his demanding schedule and regular jet lag. But he is also depressed, and the situation is getting worse for everyone in our family. A. Your husband should talk to his doctor. In rare cases, Lipitor has been associated with clinical depression.