Sea Sickness

[Lothair]

Why do we vomit when we encounter sea sickness? I was thinking about that today. What purpose does that serve and why does it seem to help relieve symptoms? It's pretty odd when you think about it. At least to the uneducated mind I suppose.

[blaze15301]

if i remember it has something to do with the rocky back and forth motion. so it is a from of motion sickness. the vomit part comes in from the contents of your stomach shifting. lol im not entirely sure tho lol. don't take my word for it im no doctor.

[dr.walrus]

Because your vision, inner ear and physical sensations get out of sync and your body gets confused. Apparently.

[Airbozo]

Because your vision, inner ear and physical sensations get out of sync and your body gets confused. Apparently.

This.



I had surgery to alleviate a deviated septum several years ago and it also cured my car sickness (mild as it was). It only slightly helped to alleviate sea sickness. I still only get invited to go ocean fishing when they need a good laugh or to chum for sharks...

[dr.walrus]

I had surgery to alleviate a deviated septum several years ago and it also cured my car sickness (mild as it was). It only slightly helped to alleviate sea sickness. I still only get invited to go ocean fishing when they need a good laugh or to chum for sharks...

Used to get it chronically as a child. A car journey of ten minutes could do it, let alone a ferry journey... Mostly fine now - seem to have grown out of it.

[Lothair]

Why does that cause us to expel our stomach contents though? I don't quite understand why our bodies respond to being confused in such a way. I'd say dizziness would make more sense?

The stomach contents shifting kind of makes sense, but I'm not sure if that's it. Do jumping jacks for example and you won't vomit?

I understand the cause, I just dont understand the why. Emptying the bowels doesn't affect the inner ear and what not, or does it?

Just seems like an odd universal response for the causes of the sickness.

[dr.walrus]

I'd say dizziness would make more sense

Dizziness and nausea are very much part of the same thing, right? The cause is very much neurological..

[Lothair]

Dizziness and nausea are very much part of the same thing, right? The cause is very much neurological..

Still doesn't answer the why though. Dizziness causes nausea which causes you to vomit. But why? It's basically all about the brain being confused, so why does something to do with things in our head end up affecting our stomachs? There must be a reason why we vomit when we become motion sick. And why it seems to help you feel less sick the more you do.

I guess a headache would make more sense than vomiting.

[dr.walrus]

Still doesn't answer the why though. Dizziness causes nausea which causes you to vomit. But why? It's basically all about the brain being confused, so why does something to do with things in our head end up affecting our stomachs? There must be a reason why we vomit when we become motion sick. And why it seems to help you feel less sick the more you do.

I guess a headache would make more sense than vomiting.

"The area postrema (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_postrema) in the brain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_brain) is responsible for inducing vomiting when poisons are detected, and for resolving conflicts between vision and balance. When feeling motion but not seeing it (for example, in a ship with no windows), the inner ear (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_ear) transmits to the brain that it senses motion, but the eyes tell the brain that everything is still. As a result of the discordance, the brain will come to the conclusion that one of them is hallucinating (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinating) and further conclude that the hallucination is due to poison ingestion. The brain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain) responds by inducing vomiting, to clear the supposed toxin."

Thanks Wikipedia!

[Indybird]

^^ Awesome ^^

[Lothair]

That's ridiculously amazing! I knew it was a question worth asking.