Increased secretion of growth hormone, prolactin, antidiuretic hormone, and cortisol induced by the stress of motion sickness.

Eversmann T, Gottsmann M, Uhlich E, Ulbrecht G, von Werder K, Scriba PC.

The stress of motion sickness was experimentally provoked by Coriolis effect. Significant and reproducible increases from the basal serum level (delta mean +/- S.E.) of antidiuretic hormone delta - ADH: 48.2 +/- 4.6 pg/ml; p less than 0.0005), of growth hormone (delta - hGH: 10.0 +/- 1.2 ng/ml; p less than 0.0005), of prolactin (delta - hPRL: 186.5 +/- 29.9 muU/ml; p less than 0.0005), and of cortisol (delta - F; 12.3 +/- 0.9 microgram%; p less than 0.0005) were observed, whereas the luteinizing hormone levels did not change significantly. The stimulation of hormone secretion induced by different degrees of motion sickness seems to correlate with the severity of motion sickness. The secretion of antidiuretic hormones is the most sensitive indicator for the stress of motion sickness whereas growth hormone, prolactin, and cortisol responses to the stress of motion sickness are more delayed and less pronounced.

Online pharmacy ref source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=623565&dopt=Abstract motion sickness




Increased urinary excretion of triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) and decreased serum thyreotropic hormone (TSH) induced by motion sickness.

Habermann J, Eversmann T, Erhardt F, Gottsmann M, Ulbrecht G, Scriba PC.

We exposed 35 male subjects to a rotary chair and motion sickness was provoked by Coriolis effect. This stress caused an increased excretion of urinary T3 and T4 and a decrease of TSH levels in serum. The increment in urinary excretion of thyroid hormones may serve as a very useful measure for the quantitation of physical stress. Although no statistically significant change of T3, T4, and TBG levels in serum could be observed by the employed techniques, the hypothesis is favoured that motion sickness probably causes an immeasurably small increase of the free thyroid hormone fraction in serum, thereby increasing urinary excretion of T3 and T4 and, in turn, decreasing TSH secretion. Physical or psychological stress situations involve most of the endocrine systems. Contadictory results have been reported in the literature concerning the relationship between thyroid function and stress.

Online pharmacy ref source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=623566&dopt=Abstract motion sickness




Intensity of motion sickness symptoms as a function of apparent autonomic balance.

Parker DM, Wilsoncroft WE.

Twenty volunteer male college students were exposed to motion picture films which reliably elicit symptoms of motion sickness. Those Ss with relatively higher apparent sympathetic nervous system dominance showed significantly smaller autonomic reactions to the film. It was concluded that increased sympathetic tone tended to the film. It was concluded that increased sympathetic tone tended to reduce autonomic reactions to motion sickness stimuli. It was suggested that the sympathetic nervous system symptoms that usually occur in motion sickness are actually defensive reactions rather than symptoms of nausea.

Online pharmacy ref source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=660171&dopt=Abstract motion sickness




Motion sickness susceptibility: a retrospective comparison of laboratory tests.

Lentz JM, Guedry FE Jr.

A test battery designed primarily to assess vestibular function has been used for several years to evaluate individuals referred to our laboratory. Because some of the test conditions have proved to be nauseogenic to some individuals, methods of assessing disturbance during these procedures have been used to pursue a second goal, viz., the estimation of motion sickness susceptibility. This report, which focuses on the latter goal, is a retrospective comparison of results on three tests obtained from two groups of subjects, one of which was a group of Navy and Marine aviation personnel who had suffered multiple attacks of airsickness. Results from three laboratory tests of motion sickness susceptibility indicated that there are substantial differences between the airsick group and the unselected comparison group on observer ratings and individual self-ratings of motion sickness symptoms. The provocative stimuli in each laboratory test, as well as suggestions concerning how multiple tests may prove effective in predicting motion sickness, are discussed.

Online pharmacy ref source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=718570&dopt=Abstract motion sickness




A sudden-stop vestibulovisual test for rapid assessment of motion sickness manifestations.

Graybiel A, Lackner JR.

The test made use of a rotating chair mounted in a striped cylindrical enclosure, 4.6 m in diameter. The subject was exposed to the following motion profile: With eyes covered he was accelebrated at 15 degrees/s2 to clockwise volocity of 300 degrees/s and maintained at that velocity for 30 s. The chair was then decelerated to a stop within 1.5 s and maintained at rest for 30 s while physiological parameters and motion sickness symptoms were recorded. This procedure was repeated until a pre-selected motion sickness endpoint was reached or 20 stops had been made. If the endpoint was not reached, testing continued without the blindfold while the subject passively viewed the striped enclosure; if the endpoint was still not reached after 20 stops, the direction of rotation was reversed. The subject's score represented one-half the number of stops with eyes covered plus the number of stops with eyes open plus twice the number of stops after reversal of direction of rotation. Fourteen subjects were each assessed four times; the average interval between tests was 3 d. The first test was usually a poor indicator of alter performance. The second test provided a satisfactory ranking of susceptibility to motion sickness, and the results of the four sessions provided an indication of the rates of acquisition and decay of adaptation. Some advantages and uses of this new test are summarized.

Online pharmacy ref source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7362541&dopt=Abstract motion sickness




Evaluation of the relationship between motion sickness symptomatology and blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature.

Graybiel A, Lackner JR.

This study investigated the relationship between the development of symptoms of motion sickness and changes in blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature. Twelve subjects were each evaluated four times using the vestibular-visual interaction test (4). The results were analyzed both within and across individual subjects. Neither a systematic group nor consistent individual relationship was found between the physiological parameters and the appearance of symptoms of motion sickness. These findings suggest that biofeedback control of the physiological variables studied is not likely to prevent the expression of motion sickness symptomatology.

Online pharmacy ref source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7362567&dopt=Abstract motion sickness




Comparison of susceptibility to motion sickness during rotation at 30 rpm in the earth-horizontal, 10 degrees head-up, and 10 degrees head-down positions.

Graybiel A, Lackner JR.

Normal persons rotated about an Earth-horizontal axis vary in their susceptibility to motion sickness. The purpose of this experiment was to measure, intraindividual differences in susceptibility in 12 subjects when rotated 10 degrees head up and 10 degrees head down as well as in the horizontal position. Subjects assumed the test-position 60 min prior to rotation, thus providing an opportunity for translocation of body fluids. Physiological and psychophysical measurements were conducted throughout the experiment. There were no intraindividual differences in susceptibility to motion sickness in the three positions tested, although there were significant differences in vital capacity, demonstrating the expected fluid shifts. It was concluded that, in the sample of subjects tested, short-term effects of fluid shifts greater than those that would be manifested in zero gravity had no definite effect on motion sickness susceptibility.

Online pharmacy ref source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=831718&dopt=Abstract motion sickness




Optokinetic motion sickness: continuous head movements attenuate the visual induction of apparent self-rotation and symptoms of motion sickness.

Lackner JR, Teixeira RA.

Symptoms of motion sickness are sometimes experienced during exposure to optokinetic stimulation. Two experimetns were performed to compare the symptoms of motion sickness elicited when subjects were exposed to incremental changes in optokinetic stimulation while sitting passively and while continuously executing shoulder-to-shoulder head movements. In the first experiment, a fixed head-movement frequency (20 cpm) was used, wheras in the second the subjects varied the frequency of their head movements in order to maintain suppression of illusory self-rotation. In both experiments, subjects in the head-moving condition had fewer and less severe symptoms of motion sickness and experienced illusory self-rotation after longer exposure times and at higher optokinetic velocities than in the head-stationary condition. Subjects in th- head-movement condition of the second experiment increased the frequency of their head movements as the velocity of optokinetic stimulation increased. The symptoms of motion sickness elicited during optokinetic stimulation tended to be dizziness, headache, eye-strain, and stomach awareness appearing in no fixed order. The pattern and constellation of symptoms are unlike those elicited by vestibular stimulation.

Online pharmacy ref source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=857800&dopt=Abstract motion sickness