Vitamin C and naturopathy against travel sickness

Natural remedies for travel sickness: vitamin C and Ingewer for travel sickness

Especially now in the holiday season, it is again an evil for so many people: the motion sickness. Some people feel sick when driving or in the airplane and when traveling by ship the seasickness is feared. The causes of the disease are still not clear. Natural remedies can help many sufferers.

Motion sickness - motion sickness
Nausea and vomiting during car rides, train journeys and air travel, as well as seasickness have the same origin. In the US, the phenomenon is called "motion sickness" by researchers. Doctors in this country call the various forms kinetoses and in general German usage one knows the suffering as a motion sickness.

The brain is confused
According to the physician Prof. Frank Schmäl from Greven near Münster, the malaise is caused, among other things, by a confusion of the brain, because it receives different information about the movement from the sensory organs. He explains the "three systems that inform us about the movement of one's own body in space": "The eyes, the equilibrium organ in the inner ear and the so-called proprioceptive system, including pressure receptors on the sole of the foot or sensors in the skin, such as the Feel the breeze of a movement. "As long as the three systems send the same information to the brain, everything is fine, but it switches to alert when it receives conflicting signals. According to Schmäl, driving in traffic is particularly bad: "When you are reading in the passenger seat, the eye does not notice the constant start-up and braking. It signals stoppage while the other systems tell the brain: we are on the move. "

Babies and seniors very rarely travel sick
Prof. Schmäl, who heads the dizziness clinic in the ENT center Münsterland, has been researching motion sickness for years. In April, he summarized his state of research in the journal "Pharmacology". Women are therefore at greater risk than men, and children between the ages of two and twelve often suffer from nausea when traveling. In contrast, over-50s and babies would rarely travel sick. The reason that babies are less affected is that their sense of balance is not fully developed and that the brain does not perceive the various sensory impressions as a threat. In seniors susceptibility decreases due to the aging process, which leads, inter alia, through changes in the inner ear, that the perception is not so fine. According to Schmäl, however, it is still a mystery why women are more vulnerable.

Man is not built for road trips
According to statistics, about five to ten percent of the population is at an increased risk of travel sickness and five to fifteen percent are insensitive. According to Schmäl, nine out of ten people in the industrialized countries have travel sick at least once in their lives. When explaining why the body reacts to nausea and vomiting, medical professionals currently assume a poisoning theory: "The body acts as if it had been poisoned and resists it," says Schmäl. He continues: "In case of poisoning, the body wants to get toxic substances out of the stomach - hence nausea and vomiting. With a faster heartbeat and sweats, the organism also tries to purify the blood of toxins. "Although the evolutionary sense is unclear, but according to Schmäl, the kinetosis can be interpreted as a warning signal for the body to withdraw from a threatening situation. The human body was just not built for travel by car, ship or plane.

Do without alcohol, cigarettes and coffee
Many people respond to car journeys with nausea, cold sweats, dizziness and even vomiting. In acute situations, it helps to interrupt the drive, get out, move and breathe fresh air. In addition, a variety of aids are offered on the market, for which there is little medical evidence. Schmäl advises against using alcohol, cigarettes and coffee before traveling: "There are nicotine and caffeine receptors in the equilibrium system. Alcohol has a deterrent effect on our balance system. For example, if someone who is prone to travel sickness drinks too much red wine during their flight, the whole thing will only get worse. "And if the waiver is not enough, he recommends scopolamine preparations:" There are patches, the substance and after deliver. They are stuck behind the ear. However, not because the body of the body is sitting there, but because the skin is able to absorb the active substance very well there. "

Tests with Vitamin C
The Bundeswehr is also looking for remedies for seasickness. For example, Andreas Koch and the Viennese allergist Prof. Reinhart Jarisch experimented with vitamin C at the Maritime Medical Institute of the Navy. "In the field of allergology, a lot of work is done on vitamin C," Koch explained. "When the body is allergic to something, a lot of histamine is released. With vitamin C supplements, the histamine levels can be lowered. "Tests were carried out in a wave pool. "We put 63 subjects on a liferaft for two days and rocked for 20 minutes each," says Koch. Some of them got a vitamin C and the others a placebo. "With the placebo, 17 participants had to leave the island very early, with vitamin C only six. And the subjects who broke both passes had sustained vitamin C for longer. "More detailed results will be released soon.

Of course, prevent
If a trip is on holiday, those affected can prepare themselves meaningfully. So you should on the eve of departure easily digestible meals to eat and waive while driving on high-fat diet. Instead of reading a book, you should focus more on the passing landscape. To distract themselves audiobooks have proven to be effective. It should also be ensured that always fresh air can penetrate through a window gap in the car. Also, conversations in the car about an approaching nausea should be avoided at all costs, as otherwise symptoms could be significantly increased subjectively. In the train, in the bus and in the car, people who are very susceptible to a motion sickness should sit in the direction of travel. Rubbing the wrists with rosemary or basil oil is also beneficial in naturopathic terms. Also melissa drops, which can be taken before the start of the journey, have proven to be useful in some people.

Ginger is controversial
In natural medicine, ginger repeatedly appears as an effective remedy for kinetosis. According to Schmäl, ginger has been shown to help with nausea after surgery or pregnancy, but clear evidence of its effectiveness in motion sickness is lacking. Also Dr. Claus-Martin Muth from the University Hospital Ulm is skeptical: "The data is inconsistent. There are many scientific reports that say ginger helps with seasickness. But there are just as many who notice no effect. "Non-medical practitioner Susanne Mertens, on the other hand, maintains:" My experiences speak a clear language. Most patients have confirmed to me a positive effect. They suffered significantly less vomiting and nausea from taking ginger extracts. "(Ad)