Overcoming Motion Sickness

Overcoming Motion Sickness

 “Navy Times” author William H. McMichael interviewed Cmdr. Rita Simmons, an aerospace physiologist assigned to the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida in an article titled “5 THINGS EVERY SAILER SHOULD KNOW”.

1. Why do people get queasy? No one really knows, Simmons said. One theory holds that the eyes, ears, and other sensory items “kind of tell you where you are in space”; when the eyes perceive one state and the body another, the brain receives mixed signals, producing physiological effects. Another is that the body treats unusual motions like a foreign substance such as a poison, and the body reacts by rejecting the sensation in a similar fashion – by vomiting. Researchers do know that there are certain types of motion – up and down motion and rolling motion—that can be sickening.

2. Who’s affected. All people with intact inner ears can get ill – Simmons said it’s been proven in her laboratory. About 1 percent of people do not have intact inner ears and cannot be made motion sick. Some 10 percent of people very rarely get motion sick; conversely, Simmons said, about another 10 percent “can’t look at a boat on the water.”

3. Current remedies.  Over-the-counter remedies, generally antihistamines such as Dramamine, are “moderately effective” for a portion of the population, Simmons said. Prescription remedies lean towards drugs that are anti-cholinergic, as well as some stronger antihistamines – all of which can be delivered orally or by patch, suppository or injection. Once you’re sick, though, those drugs aren’t going to help, and there aren’t many remedies for that unfortunate 10 percent. “You can delay or lesson the symptoms,” Simmons said. “When they cross their threshold, they may eventually get sick.”

4. What doesn’t work? Some people believe that there is an anxiety component for some people with motion sickness. If someone is afraid of flying, for example, nonprescription medications or natural remedies such as ginger, pressure-point therapy (used by the popular Sea-Band bracelets) or breathing exercises may help reduce anxiety, thus reducing the chances of motion sickness. But in controlled trials with real motion, Simmons said, “they have not been found to be effective.”

5. On the horizon. Researchers are working to find a solution that “has as close to zero side effects as possible, that will be effective as quickly as possible…. So that we can have it available to them at the moment … and they can continue to stay at their duty station,” Simmons said. NAMRL’s research has shown nasal delivery of scopolamine allows the drug to be quickly absorbed and highly effective and low doses. NAMRL hopes to finish its research and send a recommendation by Oct. 1, 2011.