Nau Sea Sea Sick

Stories by John Moore, Katherine Mansfield, Stephen Crane, Isabella Bird, Eileen Myles, et. al. Illustrated by Kay Rosen.

Nausea is a complex sensation that results from the interaction of certain fixed biological factors, such as gender, with changeable psychological factors, such as anxiety. This is the first book to provide a complete, in-depth explanation of what we know about nausea, along with the latest research results on its causes and treatment. As it is the product of long-term collaboration between scientists from the three main approaches to studying and treating nausea--psychology, gastroenterology, and physiology--the information this book provides is both comprehensive and well integrated. The book is divided into two parts, on mechanisms and management, respectively, and four sections. The chapters in Section I introduce the concept of nausea as a protective control mechanism with individual dynamic thresholds, explain the function of nausea, review past and present conceptions of nausea, and describe the prevalence of nausea in different conditions. Section II includes four basic chapters that review what is known about the physiological bases of nausea. Other chapters explore the roles of the central nervous system, autonomic nervous system, endocrine system, and gastric dysrhythmias. Section III presents the difficult problem of measuring nausea, with chapters focusing on measuring nausea in humans and studying it in animals. Section IV forms the second part of the book, on the management of nausea. The main chapters cover nausea and its treatment in several conditions, including chronic nausea, diabetes, pregnancy, post-operative, cancer and its treatment, and provocative motion. A final chapter discusses future research, including three preliminary studies of novel treatment approaches.

The following papers were presented at an international symposium on the mechanisms and treatment of nausea and vomiting in man held in Oxford in 1984. I believe that this meeting was the first occasion on which representatives from such a wide variety of scientific and clinical specialities had come together to review and debate the spectrum of the vomiting phenomenon. An attempt was made to put before an invited international audience all the pertinent facts on the different facets of the topic and then to encourage extensive discussion of the contentious issues. The first day of the meeting was devoted to the basic science ap proach to the problem and the second day to the more clinical aspects. This format has been broadly retained in the layout of the book, with the addition of summary chapters reviewing each day's contributions and focusing upon areas of particular importance. Acknowledgement must here be made to the enormous input from the many participants who either spoke in the debate or rose and themselves gave small presenta tions in addition to those of the invited speakers. The meeting occurred at a time of increasing interest in the problem of nausea and vomiting, especially because of its importance in cancer chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and even in space travel.

This volume combines incisive state-of-the-art research regarding nausea and vomiting with articles summarizing current medical knowledge of clinical problems associated with these symptoms. Topics include the historical perspective on research on nausea and emesis, clinical assessments of current and proposed anti-emetic drug therapy, and motion sickness and space sickness. The book features over 30 tables and 6 figures to help simplify the information presented. Nausea and Vomiting: Recent Research and Clinical Advances will interest all scientists who conduct research on how the brain and gastrointestinal system interact in the control of emesis. It will also contain valuable information for clinicians, researchers involved in anti-emetic drug development, and pharmaceutical companies.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1862.