How to Prevent Travel Sickness?
THE BODY’S SENTINELS
How to Prevent Travel Sickness ?Almost any sensation of motion , even if only visual, is a potential source of sickness. Not only boats and planes but a lift , an escalator , a bus or even your garden swing may affect you if you are sensitive to motion. Workers in a large tobacco factory have become ill just from watching moving lines of cigarettes. For all sufferers from this so called ‘’motion sickness’’ there is good news in a revealing symposium on the malady’s causes and cures, edited by Doctor Herman Chin of the U.S. Air Force.
Dr.Chinn’s symposium greatly expands our knowledge of motion sickness ,evaluates remedies and suggests several preventive measures you can take without resorting to drugs. It starts by confirming what previous studies have long indicated: that motion sickness originates with the organs of balance.
Inside the head, near each ear, are three very small liquid-filled tubes , each roughly a half-circle. These semi-circular canals contain tiny hairs which ,when you move, sway with the liquid as it moves about and send message to your brain , which then uses the information to control balance. But too much involuntary motion will direct messages to that part of your brain called the’’ vomiting centre’ ’Only a few years ago scientists located this centre in animals’ Brains_ through electrical stimulation ,which caused vomiting just as motion sickness does.
Simultaneously, other parts of the brain receive messages from the canals. Nerve cells in the part that keeps you alter react by making you yawn and feel drowsy. Reactions in other brain centres may cause depression, increased perspiration and a cold feeling. In brief, you feel you have had about all you can take. Laboratory studies show that repeated movements in several directions cause more trouble than movements in a single direction. For example, if you move only up and down, it is not as bad as moving up and down and also from side to side at the same time.
You increase your chances of becoming ill by turning and twisting your head, as many people do when they begin to feel sick. A recent experiment with airborne troops in turbulent flying weather tested the effects of head movement. When these men sat in planes with special headrests which eliminated all head movement, airsickness was consistently prevented. In another experiment with subjects sitting on moving swings, illness was reduced from 61 per cent to zero when they simply tilted their heads back.
When there is danger of motion sickness, therefore, medical experts advise you to bend your head back and hold it still. Lay your head against the back rest if you are seated, or lie down and tilt your head back. Don’t use a pillow. These measures reduce the movement of the liquid in the semi-circular canals and will often prevent nausea. When you are in motion and cannot see the horizon, you are more susceptible to motion sickness. One military test showed that when soldiers crouched in a landing craft where they could not see over the gunwales, 30 per cent became ill.
When they stood up and could see the horizon, only 11 per cent were sick. Remember this when you take a child riding in a car. If he cannot see out of the window, change his position so that he can.
The same principle may affect you in an airliner. Surveys reveal that passengers sitting on the left side are more prone to air sickness than those on the right. The reason is that the plane’s captain sits on the left and, for his convenience, most turns are made in that direction. When the plane banks, passengers on the left side often lose sight of the horizon and see only moving earth below, a bad visual experience. At the same time, those on the right can usually keep their eyes on the horizon by looking through the low windows at an angle.
Your nose can cause difficulty when you are in motion. Travellers on ships are more susceptible to seasickness in stuffy cabins than in open, fresh air. Engine fumes in a boat or car can contribute greatly. And the sickness of one passenger frequently causes sickness in others.
Women are more susceptible to motion sickness than men or children. (A woman is even more sensitive to motion during her menstrual period.) Anyone suffering from a peptic or duodenal ulcer, migraine headaches, sinusitis or hypertensive vertigo is extra susceptible.
The kind of food you eat does not seem to have any effect on motion sickness. Anything which agrees with you normally will agree with you when you are in motion. However, both over indulgence and fasting may contribute to motion sickness. The best procedure is to stick to your regular diet.
Airline doctors also stress the importance of moderation with mineral beverages when you fly. Mineral drinks bring gas to your stomach and, as you gain altitude, in non-pressurized aircraft the change of air pressure causes the gas to expand.
Even after taking all practical precautions, some will still be hit by motion sickness but several new drugs are available which will help most of them.
How to Prevent Travel Sickness? How to Prevent Travel Sickness? How to Prevent Travel Sickness? How to Prevent Travel Sickness? How to Prevent Travel Sickness? How to Prevent Travel Sickness? How to Prevent Travel Sickness? How to Prevent Travel Sickness? How to Prevent Travel Sickness?