Tasimelteon, an investigational drug to combat insomnia, helped people cope with disrupted sleep-wake cycles in a study involving healthy individuals who were told to go to sleep five hours earlier than normal at a sleep clinic, Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers reported in Lancet.

By activating the MT1 and MT2 melatonin receptors, these agents appear to help the body shift its circadian rhythms to align with altered sleep-wake behaviors.

The researchers also suggested that around 70 million cases of jet lag occurred in 2007, based on the number of international airplane passengers and the published prevalence of jet lag.