Motion sickness

Motion sickness
Motion sickness
Other names	Kinetosis, travel sickness, seasickness, airsickness, carsickness, simulation sickness, space motion sickness, space adaptation syndrome
	A drawing of people with seasickness from 1841
Specialty	Neurology
Symptoms	Nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, increased salivation
Complications	Dehydration, electrolyte problems, lower esophageal tear
Causes	Real or perceived motion
Risk factors	Pregnancy, migraines, Ménière's disease
Diagnostic method	Based on symptoms
Differential diagnosis	Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, vestibular migraine, stroke
Prevention	Avoidance of triggers
Treatment	Behavioral measures, medications
Medication	Scopolamine, dimenhydrinate, dexamphetamine
Prognosis	Generally resolve within a day
Frequency	Nearly all people with sufficient motion; roughly one-third highly susceptible

Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion.^[1]^[2]^[4] Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation.^[1]^[5] Complications may rarely include dehydration, electrolyte problems, or a lower esophageal tear.^[2]

The cause of motion sickness is either real or perceived motion.^[2] This may include car travel, air travel, sea travel, space travel, or reality simulation.^[2] Risk factors include pregnancy, migraines, and Ménière's disease.^[2] The diagnosis is based on symptoms.^[2]

Treatment may include behavioral measures or medications.^[3] Behavioral measures include keeping the head still and focusing on the horizon.^[6]^[7] Three types of medications are useful: antimuscarinics such as scopolamine, H₁ antihistamines such as dimenhydrinate, and amphetamines such as dexamphetamine.^[3] Side effects, however, may limit the use of medications.^[3] A number of medications used for nausea such as ondansetron are not effective for motion sickness.^[3]

Nearly all people are affected with sufficient motion^[2] and most people will experience motion sickness at least once in their lifetime.^[8] Susceptibility, however, is variable, with about one-third of the population being highly susceptible while most other people are affected under extreme conditions.^[2] Women are more easily affected than men.^[9] Motion sickness has been described since at least the time of Homer (c. eighth century BC).^[10]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Cite error: The named reference HaleStanney2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Golding, J. F. (2016). "Motion sickness". Neuro-Otology. Handbook of Clinical Neurology. Vol. 137. pp. 371–390. doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-63437-5.00027-3. ISBN 9780444634375. ISSN 0072-9752. PMID 27638085.
^ Cite error: The named reference ReasonBrand1975 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Hromatka, Bethann S.; Tung, Joyce Y.; Kiefer, Amy K.; Do, Chuong B.; Hinds, David A.; Eriksson, Nicholas (1 May 2015). "Genetic variants associated with motion sickness point to roles for inner ear development, neurological processes and glucose homeostasis". Human Molecular Genetics. 24 (9): 2700–2708. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddv028. PMC 4383869. PMID 25628336.
^ Cite error: The named reference Hemmerich2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Munafo2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Herron2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Hemmerich2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Huppert2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[HaleStanney2014-1] Cite error: The named reference HaleStanney2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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[Gold2016-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Golding, J. F. (2016). "Motion sickness". Neuro-Otology. Handbook of Clinical Neurology. Vol. 137. pp. 371–390. doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-63437-5.00027-3. ISBN 9780444634375. ISSN 0072-9752. PMID 27638085.

[ReasonBrand1975-4] Cite error: The named reference ReasonBrand1975 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Hromatka2015-5] Hromatka, Bethann S.; Tung, Joyce Y.; Kiefer, Amy K.; Do, Chuong B.; Hinds, David A.; Eriksson, Nicholas (1 May 2015). "Genetic variants associated with motion sickness point to roles for inner ear development, neurological processes and glucose homeostasis". Human Molecular Genetics. 24 (9): 2700–2708. doi:10.1093/hmg/ddv028. PMC 4383869. PMID 25628336.

[Hemmerich2020-6] Cite error: The named reference Hemmerich2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Munafo2016-7] Cite error: The named reference Munafo2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Herron2010-8] Cite error: The named reference Herron2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Hemmerich2019-9] Cite error: The named reference Hemmerich2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Huppert2017-10] Cite error: The named reference Huppert2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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