Motion sickness sufferers could be able to buy an off-the-shelf cure for the debilitating condition within ten years.
Thanks to research from Imperial College London, UK, scientists believe that a safe and effective treatment for the condition could be available between five and ten years’ time after they found that applying a mild electric current to the scalp could be eliminate the symptoms.
The current helps the brain to reduce the impact of the confusing messages it receives from the eyes and ears, thus preventing the problem that causes motion sickness.
Lead researcher Dr Qadeer Arshad from the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London said: “We are confident that within five to ten years people will be able to walk into the chemist and buy an anti-seasickness device.
“It may be something like a tens machine that is used for back pain. We hope it might even integrate with a mobile phone, which would be able to deliver the small amount of electricity required via the headphone jack. In either case, you would temporarily attach small electrodes to your scalp before travelling – on a cross channel ferry, for example.”
In the study, which is published in Neurology, volunteers wore electrodes on their heads for about 10 minutes and were asked to sit in a motorised rotating chair that also tilted to simulate the motions that commonly make people sick on boats or rollercoasters.
Following the treatment, the volunteers reported they were less likely to feel nauseous and they also recovered faster.
Professor Michael Gresty from Imperial College, who also worked on the research, said the team was excited about the promising new treatment.
“The problem with treatments for motion sickness is that the effective ones are usually tablets that also make people drowsy,” he said.
“That’s all very well if you are on a short journey or a passenger, but what about if you work on a cruise ship and need to deal with motion sickness whilst continuing to work?
“We are really excited about the potential of this new treatment to provide an effective measure to prevent motion sickness with no apparent side effects. The benefits that we saw are very close to the effects we see with the best travel sickness medications available.”
Arshad Q, Cerchiai N et al. Electro-cortical Therapy for Motion Sickness. Neurology4 September 2015.
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