Balance Disorders

waltky · Oct 7, 2015

possum likes to go out for a ride but he gets sick an' throws up inna back seat...

Device Shows Promise of Stopping Motion Sickness
October 07, 2015 - Its a sickening feeling the dizziness, nausea and vomiting that comes with motion sickness. People have tried wristbands or taken anti-nausea drugs to prevent it, but often, nothing works.

Scientists at Imperial College London are working on a new device to counteract motion sickness, which occurs when the motion you sense with your inner ear is different from the one you visualize. You imagine being on a bicycle or motorbike. You go around the corner, you lean into the corner, which remains perfectly upright in physics, said Michael Gresty, a motion sickness expert. But, he noted, you dont do that in a car. You dont do that on a ship. Youre actually struggling to find out what is upright, and whats the best way of dealing with it. The researchers said the device stops motion sickness by suppressing certain signals in the brain.

In the research, conducted in a hospital laboratory, volunteers sat in a motorized, tilting chair for about 10 minutes, experiencing the motions that make people ill. Then a mild electrical current sent through electrodes on the volunteers scalp caused the brain to suppress signals that affect the inner ear. "We found that it took longer for the individual to develop motion sickness, and that they also recovered faster," researcher Qadeer Arshad said.

And there are no reported side effects. These are very small amounts of electricity that youre putting through the brain, Gresty said. The next step is to test the device outside the laboratory. The scientists hope a device that plugs into a smartphone and attaches to the scalp will be available within 10 years, saving a lot of people from the misery of motion sickness.

http://www.voanews.com/content/device-shows-promise-stopping-motion-sickness/2995632.html
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waltky · Oct 20, 2015

Whenever Granny feels a faintin' spell comin' on, Uncle Ferd grabs her by the ankles an' holds her upside down so her blood rushes to her head...

Researchers say sniffing, gasping may prevent fainting
Oct. 17, 2015 -- Research conducted by Slovak cardiologist Marta Bavolarova suggests simple actions like sniffing and gasping for air can prevent the most common form of fainting.

"Recurrent syncope [fainting] has serious effects on quality of life," Dr. Bavolarova said in a statement published by the European Society of Cardiology Saturday. "Patients are often injured when they fall, which reduces their mobility and ability to look after themselves. Depression is common in these patients." Fainting is the brief loss of consciousness brought on by a sudden drop in blood flow to the brain, leading to a drop in blood pressure and heart rate. It can be caused by prolonged standing or standing up too quickly. Bavolarova's study looked at two women aged 56 and 62 with a medical history of recurring vasovagal syncope. A head-up tilt test was performed on each patient, during which they would lie on a horizontal table that is then quickly tilted 60 degrees to mimic the act of standing up suddenly.

Researchers in Austria believe simple actions like gasping and sniffling can ward off a fainting spell.

The tests resulted in the patients' avoiding a fainting spell when they sniffed or gasped twice. Using an ECG, researchers found that blood pressure and heart rate remained constant when they did so. "Our test, which is like standing up quickly, previously led to falls in blood pressure and heart rate and subsequent syncope in these patients," Bavolarova said. "But strong and forced inhalation by sniffing or gasping seemed to prevent these drops and they did not faint." "We believe that sniffing and gasping have a strong sympathetic effect that inhibits the abnormal parasympathetic activity in these patients," she added. "This stops fainting at the highest level."

The new preventative maneuver is added to other measures like crossing one's legs or gripping one's hands to increase heart rate when a patient feels faint. "We now also tell patients that they can sniff or gasp to prevent themselves from fainting," Bavolarova said. "This was a small preliminary study and we will confirm our findings in a larger number of patients."

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2015...-prevent-fainting/4911445112929/?spt=slh&or=8
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Balance Disorders

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