Many of us have experienced nausea a number of times throughout our lives, but what really triggers it? Because it's commonly associated with vomiting there's an understandable temptation to conclude that nausea is just a precursor to this process and is mainly liked to stomach bugs and infections. The truth is that the human body is far more complex than this, and as such can fall victim to a wide range of triggers.
Nausea can be triggered by stomach infections and food
Anyone who has ever suffered food poisoning will be quick to tell you that the first signs they were unwell came in the form of a sweeping form of nausea. This is then typically followed by an intense period of vomiting, reduced appetite, increased thirst, and a relatively quick recovery. This is in contrast to a stomach bug or infection, where recovery can readily take a week or more.
Nausea can start due to mental health conditions
Stress and anxiety are two closely interrelated general phenomena that characterise a wide range of more specific mental health conditions. They both cause your body to undergo spikes of a number of hormones throughout the day, resulting in signals being sent to the brain that something is wrong with the stomach. This will typically result in feelings of nausea, dry heaving, and an inability to relieve the situation through vomiting. Some more extreme cases will see vomiting occur, but if the background stress and anxiety are not reduced, the nausea being triggered by these sensations will remain.
Motion sickness is a common cause of nausea
Travelling by car or boat is the most common form of motion sickness, with the unpredictable rhythm of the motion being largely responsible for triggering nausea. The sensors in parts of the body like the stomach and the inner ear have not evolved to reliably process external data when moving at such speeds - we have evolved to travel on foot.
The result is misleading signals sent to the brain which are often misinterpreted as an underlying issue in the stomach. This then manifests itself in the form of continually worsening nausea, often accompanied by vomiting and heaving.
Medical procedures are known to trigger nausea
Radiotherapy treatment is widely acknowledged to cause significant levels of extreme nausea. The same is true of surgery performed with the aid of a general anaesthetic. In these cases, the interaction of the drugs and medicinal stimuli with the body causes misfiring signals to be sent to the brain. This then results in nausea that may feel like it will never go away, even after intense episodes of vomiting. Inner and middle ear issues are another common problem and can result in nausea which is associated with feelings of being off balance - vertigo being the most well-known example.
Nausea can be controlled once triggered
Research shows that Cyclizine helps to treat patients suffering from nausea. It is a highly effective solution for those with inner ear issues, motion sickness, and nausea that arises during medical treatment and the associated recovery.
Cyclizine is a powerful antihistamine that blocks the brain's receptors that are responsible for overseeing the vomiting centre. By preventing this part of the brain from reacting, it stops the background feeling of nausea from taking hold.
