What is Motion Sickness?
Motion sickness is the syndrome of pallor, nausea, weakness, and malaise, which may progress to vomiting and incapacitation, caused by stimulation of the semicircular canals during travel or motion as on a boat, plane, train, car, swing, or rotating amusement ride.
Motion sickness can happen from any kind of movement -- even movement that you' re anticipating. People tend to get motion sickness on a moving boat, train, airplane, car, or amusement park rides. Motion sickness usually stops as soon as the motion stops.
Although motion sickness is fairly common and often only a minor nuisance, it may cause problems for people who travel frequently. Fortunately, the more you travel, the more you get used to the motion. You can also take precautions to reduce the chance of getting motion sickness.
The most common signs and symptoms of motion sickness include:
•Nausea
•Pale skin
•Cold sweats
•Vomiting
•Dizziness
•Headache
•Increased salivation
•Fatigue
Causes
Motion sickness happens when the body, the inner ear, and the eyes send conflicting signals to the brain. This most often happens when you are in a car, boat, or airplane, but it may also happen on flight simulators or amusement park rides. From inside a ship's cabin, your inner ear may sense rolling motions that your eyes cannot see. On the other hand, your eyes may see movement on a "virtual reality" ride that your body does not feel. Once a person gets used to the movement and the motion stops, symptoms may come back (although usually only briefly). Sometimes just thinking about movement can cause anxiety and symptoms of motion sickness. For example, a person who had motion sickness before might become nauseous on an airplane before take-off.
Risk Factors
The following are the most common risk factors for motion sickness:
•Riding in a car, boat, airplane, or space shuttle
•Young age -- children ages 2 - 12 are most likely to get motion sickness.
•Being prone to nausea or vomiting
•Higher level of fear or anxiety
•Poor ventilation in the vehicle
•Sitting in the back seat or where you cannot see out the window
Diagnosis
Most people who have had motion sickness in the past ask their doctor how to prevent it next time. Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and find out what usually causes the problem, such as riding in a boat, flying in a plane, or driving in car. Your doctor doesn' t usually need laboratory tests to make a diagnosis.
Preventive Care
There are several ways you can try to prevent motion sickness:
•Sit in the front seat in a car.
•Keep your eyes on the horizon. Don't read.
•Rest your head against the seat back, to keep it still.
•Turn the air vents toward your face.
•Don't smoke.
If you have motion sickness on a plane, try these tips:
•Eat light meals or snacks that are low in calories in the 24 hours before air travel.
•Avoid salty foods and dairy products before air travel.
•Sit toward the front of the aircraft or in a seat over the wing.
•Turn the air vent flow toward your face.
If you have motion sickness on a boat, try these tips:
•Ask for a cabin on the upper deck or toward the front of the ship.
•When on deck, keep your eyes fixed on the horizon or land.
New Research- New Medicated Chewing Gum Can Prevent Motion Sickness
Individuals with motion sickness may receive more benefits from a newly developed type of medicated chewing gum than traditional oral solid dosage forms.
The finding is being revealed October 14th to 18th at the 2012 AAPS (American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Chicago, Ill., an international event which is expecting an attendance of over 8,000. Approximately 33% of people are vulnerable to motion sickness in mild situations, such as riding on a bus, while almost 66% of people are shaken up by the condition in more severe circumstances.
Dimenhydrinate is an effective drug, sold as liquid, tablets and chewable tablets, used to prevent symptoms associated with motion sickness. However, a new gum was formulated by this drug, by a team of experts led by Mohsen Sadatrezaei of RoshaDarou Co., which can relieve symptoms faster by allowing the person to soak up the medicine through the cheek, while even improving patient conformity.
In order to analyze whether absorption through the buccal cavity (vestibule of the mouth) was faster, based on how quickly symptoms were reduced, the scientists called in a sensory panel - testers with extraordinary sensory ability. They also ranked how bitter the gum was and how easy it was to chew.
The authors believe that their final product has the potential to be advertised for use in the near future. Other functional ingredients with unfavorable taste can be added into chewing gum, using these results as a guide, they concluded.
What are the symptoms of motion sickness?
When contradictory messages are sent to the central nervous system from the other four systems - the eyes, the inner ear, skin pressure receptors, and the muscle and joint sensory receptors, symptoms of motion sickness will occur, including:
vomiting
dizziness
nausea
headache
sweating
short breath
drowsiness
