Motion Sickness and Nausea

Have you ever felt nauseous after riding a boat, a plane, a car or a train? Did you felt that uncomfortable feeling in the stomach? That sensation is called motion sickness. Do not worry; motion sickness is not a disease. Everybody experiences. The intensity of the motion sickness only varies. Some people would feel really nauseous during or after a trip while others simply feel a little nauseous. Some people find motion sickness a problem when travelling. So some people would take medications for motion sickness and others would prepare the nausea remedies. But what is the story behind this motion sickness?
When a person had motion sickness it does not mean that he or she is sick. Motion sickness is only the body´s response to the movement that the body sense but the eyes do not see. In the concept of motion sickness, we have to discuss the food poisoning too. A person may experience food poisoning if he or she ingested food that is highly contaminated with bacteria such as
• Campylobacter jejuni
• Clostridium perfringens
• Salmonella
• Bacillus cereus
• Escherichia coli
• Listeria monocytogenes
• Shigella spp.
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Staphylococcal enteritis
• Vibrio cholerae
• Vibrio parahaemolyticus
• Vibrio vulnificus
• Yersinia enterocolitica
• Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.
Other bacteria that can act as causative agents are Brucella spp.,Corynebacterium ulcerans, Coxiella burnetii or Q fever and Plesiomonas shigelloides. These bacteria release toxins. The toxins they release can be sensed by the body. These toxins are considered as foreign chemicals in the body. The message about the presence of these toxins will be sent to the brain and the brain will automatically stimulate vomiting. The person would feel nauseous and will eventually vomit. Vomiting is the spilling of the contents of the stomach. This is the body´s way to expel the toxins from the body. So how is that connected to motion sickness? These toxins can cause hallucinations. Hallucination is the perception in the absence of a stimulus. Let´s take for an example a man inside a boat. He sees that the indoors is still however the body can sense that there is movement due to the movement of the boat. The eyes will send a message to the brain that everything is still while the vestibular system would send the brain a message that there is movement. There is a difference between the two senses and the brain will interpret the discord between these two senses was caused by the toxins in the stomach. So the brain would stimulate vomiting to expel the toxins. The person would feel nauseous and would eventually vomit. But sometimes it is not really followed by vomiting. Thus, motion sickness is only a defense mechanism of the body.
There are medications for motion sickness available in the market nowadays. The person may also carry with him nausea remedies. You can find nausea remedies from the internet and health books. It is also said that closing your eyes during the trip may help. Motion sickness would normally go away. But people may try different nausea remedies to alleviate the uneasy feeling.