On Thu, 8 Jun 2000, David Strike wrote:

> On Thursday, June 08, 2000 1:18 PM, Dave DeBarger wrote:
>
> > Now I need some help.  This will be my first liveaboard.  I tend toward
> > seasickness, but have had pretty good luck with The Patch (although it
> > has never had a REAL test!)  It is also our club's first-ever liveaboard
> > trip, so we have no "old salts" to dispense wisdom.  I know, however,
> > that this list is brimming with wisdom.  Some of you have even done
> > liveaboards!
>
        <snip>

> When diving - especially from a live-aboard -  I *try* and avoid taking
> drugs of any type.  Which left a fairly limited field of options.  One of
> the ancient remedies, however, was the use of ginger; ginger-beer; ginger
> biscuits; neat ginger root, etc.  Apparently recent clinical studies suggest
> that this is so, and that ginger has a superior action in the treatment of
> motion sickness when compared with synthetic drugs.
>
> A company here - and I guess they'd be available elsewhere in the world? -
> produce ginger tablets which when, (to quote from the blurb on the back of
> the packet), "Taken prior to travelling .. may ease or completely ward off
> the symptoms of nausea and vomiting associated with motion sickness.  They
> may also help reduce the symptoms of gastrointestinal upset from other
> causes."
>
> They certainly seem to work for me.  Best of all you can take as many as you
> need, whenever you feel the need, without worry about side effects.  Some of
> the live-aboards here actually make them freely available to passengers.
>
>
                <good stuff snipped>

> Strike
>

I agree with Strike's comments above, and I too use ginger (capsules)
whenever it looks like the seas will be rough.  If they look like they are
going to be "very rough", then I use something stronger, and that always
makes me so dopey that I wonder why I am bothering.

But I am not really just posting to say "me too" (never worth doing) but
because Strike mentioned "recent clinical studies" as being favorable.
That jarred my memory, and I found on my HD the following reference that
is *not* so favorable:

=======

Article: 22089 of rec.scuba
Path: pirates!emory!swrinde!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!usc!not-for-mail
From: [log in to unmask] (Tabby L. Stone)
Newsgroups: rec.scuba
Subject: Ginger   <was Re: Dramamine>
Date: 13 Sep 1994 10:40:56 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
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>From: Donald Steele <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Tue, 13 Sep 94 11:22:44 -0500
>Subject: Dramamine
>
>This medication has stood the test of time (more than 40 years); but like
>all medications, it has side effects.  Drowsiness is prominent.  The anecdotes
>are cute about Ginger root...but, alas, no documentation.  Ever try Kui kui
>oil rubbed into the umbilicus??  Give it a shot!
>

Kui kui oil....hmm, that's a new one I hadn't heard of ....

As far as studies showing efficacy of ginger:
I did a medline search on the treatment of motion sickness a
while back and the two references to the use of ginger are
reprinted below. Despite lots of anecdotal reports including
testimonials here on rec.scuba, these studies don't document that
it works any better than a placebo.

---------------------------------------
Stewart JJ; Wood MJ; Wood CD; Mims ME
Effects of ginger on motion sickness susceptibility and gastric function.
Louisiana State University Medical Center, Shreveport.
Pharmacology 1991;42(2):111-20
Unique Identifier: MEDLINE 91288589
JOURNAL ARTICLE

Abstract:

This study was designed to evaluate the antimotion sickness
activity of ginger root (Zingiber officinale) and to characterize
the effects of ginger on gastric function. Twenty-eight human
volunteers participated in the project. Subjects made timed head
movements in a rotating chair until they reached an endpoint of
motion sickness short of vomiting (malaise III or M-III). Each
subject was tested with either ginger or scopolamine and a
placebo. A substance was judged to possess antimotion sickness
activity if it allowed a greater number of head movements
compared to placebo control. Gastric emptying of a liquid was
measured by nuclear medicine techniques in normal and motion sick
subjects. Gastric electrical activity was monitored by cutaneous
(surface) electrodes positioned over the abdominal area. Powder
ginger (whole root, 500 or 1,000 mg) or fresh ginger root (1,000
mg) provided no protection against motion sickness. In contrast,
subjects performed an average of 147.5 more head movements (p
less than 0.01) after scopolamine (0.6 mg p.o.) than after
placebo. The rate of gastric emptying was significantly (p less
than 0.05) slowed when tested immediately after M-III but was
inhibited less when tested 15 min after M-III. Powdered ginger
(500 mg) had no effect on gastric emptying in normal or
motion-sick subjects. Gastric motility was also changed during
motion sickness. The frequency of the electrogastrogram (EGG) was
increased after M-III (tachygastria) and the normal increase in
EGG amplitude after liquid ingestion was reduced in motion sick
subjects. Although powdered ginger (500 mg) partially inhibited
tachygastria in motion sickness, it did not enhance the EGG
amplitude in motion sick subjects. We conclude that ginger does
not possess antimotion sickness activity, nor does it
significantly alter gastric function during motion sickness.

Holtmann S; Clarke AH; Scherer H; Hohn M
The anti-motion sickness mechanism of ginger. A comparative
study with placebo and dimenhydrinate.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Grosshadern Medical Center, Ludwig-
Maximilians Universit:at M:unchen, Germany.
Acta Otolaryngol (Stockh) 1989 Sep-Oct;108(3-4):168-74
Unique Identifier: MEDLINE 90052406
CLINICAL TRIAL
JOURNAL ARTICLE
RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Abstract:

A controlled, double-blind study was carried out to determine
whether nystagmus response to optokinetic or vestibular stimuli
might be altered by some agent contained in powdered ginger root
(Zingiber officinale). For comparative purposes, the test
subjects were examined after medication with ginger root, placebo
and with dimenhydrinate. Eye movements were recorded using
standard ENG equipment and evaluation was performed by automatic
nystagmus analysis. It could be demonstrated that the effect of
ginger root did not differ from that found at baseline, or with
placebo, i.e. it had no influence on the experimentally induced
nystagmus. Dimenhydrinate, on the other hand, was found to cause
a reduction in the nystagmus response to caloric, rotatory and
optokinetic stimuli. From the present study it can be concluded
that neither the vestibular nor the oculomotor system, both of
which are of decisive importance in the occurrence of motion
sickness, are influenced by ginger. A CNS mechanism, which is
characteristic of the conventional anti-motion sickness drugs,
can thus be excluded as regards ginger root. It is more likely
that any reduction of motion-sickness symptoms derives from the
influence of the ginger root agents on the gastric system.

=======

Safe diving,

chuck s.
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