NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #16/NN_1992_16.iso/spool/sci/skeptic/13061

Internet Message Format | 1992-07-22 | 2.6 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!sun4nl!tuegate.tue.nl!rw7.urc.tue.nl!wsadjw
From: [e-mail] (Jan Willem Nienhuys)
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: Anti-motion sickness wristbands
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 22 Jul 92 15:04:48 GMT
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail]
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
Lines: 36

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
#>[Me]
#>Motion sickness seems to have great potential to be cured by placebo  effect.
#
#I think you're overgeneralizing the term "placebo effect" here.  I know that in
#my case, anything that distracts my attention from the scenery to the side of
#the car tends to prevent motion sickness.  This can include sitting in the front
#seat where I have a good enough view through the windshield that I don't look
#through the side windows.  Now, if all that's needed is some distraction from
#the motion, then we're not talking about a placebo effect here.  It's a placebo
#effect only if whether it works depends on whether the person believes in
#advance that it will work.

It is believed that motion sickness is caused by incongruence between the
sensory signals from the eyes and the equilibrium organ in the inner ear.
The classical remedy against it is watching anything stationary outside.
In that way, what the eye observes (motion of the own body with respect
to the stationary scene) and what the ears feel is congruent.
This at least is the common explanation I often hear/read. It fits in with
the observation that the driver of a car rarely gets motion sickness.
I did not read about systematic experiments proving that this explanation
is correct.  Of course it conflicts with "not seeing side scenery".
Do you mean that sitting in an airplane or in a ship without being able
to see any moving scenery outside (either on the side or in front) would
stop motion sickness?  When you are not experiencing any motion, but see
a realistic movie taken from a strongly and wildly accerelating vehicle,
you'll experience motion sickness (I believe).  Being swung around, and
experiencing a rather constant apparent force (centripetal force), combined
with looking at the wildly gyrating surroundings, can make people also very
dizzy.
About the placebo effect: a well known drug, scopolamine was tested; it
"worked", but after comparing with a control group that had received a
placebo, the effect was less impressive.
Other data I've to look up at home.

JWN