HOW THE 



MotiOn of Hie OcQall 



AFFECTS YOU 



By Kathy Hart 



Tony Tillett says he expects one 

 out of six anglers who step aboard The 

 Carolinian to experience it. 



Sea Grant agent Bob Hines says the 

 slow heave and roll of large oceangoing 

 vessels drive him to it. 



Hippocrates, Cicero, Admiral Lord 

 Nelson, Charles Darwin and President 

 Harry Truman all knew the malady. 



And 10 to 15 million American adults 

 are regularly susceptible to its misery. 



Know what it is? 



Seasickness, known more generally 

 as motion sickness. 



This bane of travel afflicts an esti- 

 mated 90 percent of American adults 

 sometime during their lives. It can happen 

 on an offshore fishing charter, on a 

 trans-Atlantic air flight, in the confines 

 of the space shuttle Endeavour or in the 

 backseat of your father's Oldsmobile. It 

 torments young and old, men and women, 

 astronauts, pilots and Navy sailors. 



For North Carolina's charter fleet, 

 seasickness is part of doing business. 

 Tillett, who owns and operates an Oregon 

 Inlet charter boat, says he expects a per- 

 centage of his clients will be stricken with 

 mal de mer. 



When the symptoms strike — dizzi- 

 ness, pallor, cold sweating, nausea and 

 vomiting — Tillett recommends that the 

 afflicted stay on deck in the fresh air and, 

 if breakfast arises, avail themselves of the 

 side of the boat instead of the toilet. 



"The inclination is to go below and 

 lie down," Tillett says. "That's the worse 

 thing you can do." 



Occasionally, Tillett brings a fishing 

 party back to shore because one or two 

 anglers are miserable, evoking concern 

 and a call for the docks from the others. 



But Alan Foreman says he can't be so 

 accommodating. He captains a bottom- 



Some Ways 

 to Avoid 

 Motion 

 Sickness 



Eat a small, low-fat, 

 starchy meal before traveling. 

 If it is a long trip, munch on 

 crackers along the way. 



Look at the movement 

 that your inner ear is sensing. 

 On a boat, use the horizon 

 as a reference to remind yourself 

 that you are indeed rocking. 



Stay busy with other thoughts. 

 Subjects asked to solve 

 mental problems get sick 

 less frequently in 

 motion sickness tests. 



Don't worry. 

 Anxiety can stimulate many 

 of the same hormonal reactions 

 that precipitate nausea. 



Stay away from 

 alcoholic beverages. 

 Contrary to popular belief, 

 alcohol affects inner ear function 

 and can make 

 a seasick person feel worse. 



fishing head boat, The Country Girl, that 

 takes 27 fishermen offshore to hook sea 

 bass, triggerfish and grouper. 



"There are a few people who get sick 

 regardless of whether it's a rough day or 

 the prettiest day you'll ever see," Foreman 

 says. "And there are those who drink a lot 

 of beer or liquor the night before and stay 

 up late. They're going to be sick. 



"But those who get a decent night's 

 sleep and a good breakfast usually make it 

 OK," he says. 



For those who endure a day of motion 

 misery, there is always relief ahead. "As 

 soon as we're within sight of land or pass 

 under the (Oregon Inlet) bridge, people 

 just seem to start feeling better," Tillett 

 says. 



The History 



Although associated with modern 

 modes of travel, motion sickness has 

 plagued humankind since the construction 

 of the first vehicle, probably a waterborne 

 raft or canoe. 



The ancient Greeks provide the first 

 written accounts of motion sickness. In 

 fact, the word nausea derives from a Greek 

 word "naus" for ship, and Hippocrates 

 noted that "sailing on the sea proves that 

 motion disorders the body." 



Through the years, healers employed 

 a variety of remedies to stop the body's 

 response to motion. In the 12th century, 

 the monks of Salerno prescribed a mixture 

 of seawater and wine to protect against 

 seasickness. Later that remedy was modi- 

 fied to wine and sage water. Sedatives and 

 narcotics were also widely recommended 

 by doctors. And British philosopher Sir 

 Frances Bacon noted in the 1600s that a 

 bag of saffron carried next to the stomach 

 relieved mal de mer. 



To reduce jostling of the stomach, 

 which some 19th-century doctors believed 



12 JANUARY I FEBRUARY 1994 



