Motion sickness is the term used to explain nausea some people feel when their bodies are in motion.
The motion could mean travel (by road, water, air) or rides in an amusement park.
Motion sickness is caused by the contradictory information our senses provide to our brain.
When travelling, our eyes and ears sense movement, while the leg muscles and joints sense stillness.
The inner ear plays a vital role in this as its primary function is to tell the brain whether we are standing or lying down and what is our spatial orientation.
The brain, unable to process these confusing signals, assumes something toxic is trying to take over the body.
And it gets ready to eject the offending contents, causing nausea.
While this is the only explanation science offers, many experts believe this theory is not entirely convincing for several reasons.
For one, if it were because of confusing sensory signals, all of us should suffer.
However, only about 30% of us face motion sickness some time in life — it is more prevalent in women and children.
Secondly, the cures (mint, ginger, water, fresh air, etc.) don’t seem to have any connection with confusing signals.
Some explanation has been provided for why women are more prone than men, but this explanation is not fully supported by scientific evidence.
The explanation goes like this: on average, the weight in a woman’s body is distributed differently than in the case of a man.
This means that women tend to sway slower but farther during motion, and men tend to sway faster but in a smaller area.
Hormonal changes in women’s bodies (because of menstrual cycles) may also play a role.
People above their mid-50s tend to grow over motion sickness, and this may be because, beyond this age, the inner-ear function reduces significantly.
