Anaesthetic causes jet-lag

Researchers have discovered why people can feel like they have jet-lag after surgery - general anaesthetic alters the activity of genes that control the biological clock. Image: Beano5/iStockphoto Researchers from The University of Auckland have discovered why people feel as though they have jet-lag after surgery, and the findings may have implications for post-operative recovery.“Our work shows that general anaesthesia effectively shifts you to a different time zone, producing chemically-induced jet-lag,” explains lead researcher Dr Guy Warman from the Department of Anaesthesiology and School of Biological Sciences at The University of Auckland. “It provides a scientific explanation for why people wake up from surgery feeling as though very little time has passed.”The study showed for the first time that general anaesthetic alters the activity of key genes that control the biological clock, shifting them to a different time zone. The effect persists for at least three days, even in the presence of strong...

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