by Paul Goldfinger, MD, FACC

My wife and I were on a road trip to Virginia in her fully loaded 2008 vehicle. (I mean the car is loaded, not the wife). I was driving, and we were following a “scenic route” through the countryside near Charlottesville. It was a lovely curvy road that passed farms, trees and hills, and we were confident in our route thanks to the little Garmin on the dash. There is a woman named Mabel who lives in our GPS and tells me where to go (as have many women in my past).

Anyhow, our destination was Montpelier, the home of James Madison, who has not been home for many years. As we pulled into Montpelier’s parking lot, I shut off the engine and noticed that I was nauseated, dizzy and altogether feeling lousy. After mentally rummaging through my medical school files for a diagnosis, I concluded that I was suffering from motion sickness, due to those damn scenic winding country roads.

Motion sickness occurs when the brain receives conflicting information from the inner ear (the vestibular apparatus) and from the eyes. It is when the usual smooth equilibrium between these two systems becomes uncoupled. The body is moving one way (as sensed by the inner ear canals and cochlea), while the eyes are seeing contradictory motion (like when you look around at everything while in a moving vehicle).

There are some genetic differences, and Chinese people are more prone than other races. That is why they use chop sticks. (OK…OK, it’s just a joke). People on ships get it (The French call it “mal de mer”: a lovely name for something that makes you vomit). Seventy five percent of astronauts suffer with it on their first flight, and some may barf into the weightless environment. (a delightful image for the gang at Mission Control). Even kids can get it from video games, while others can get sick while watching certain movies or when reading in a car.

I have always been prone to motion sickness. When I was three, riding on a bus with my cousin Marty, I threw up on his Navy whites. I got nauseous in the back seat of a car when my future wife and I were on our first date, and I got sick on the Cyclone roller coaster in Coney Island. But, as I thought about it, I realized that I don’t get sick when I drive a car, even when driving on country roads, and we used to live in a rural area. Yikes!! There goes my diagnosis.

As I sat there, trying to recover, I still was convinced that I had car sickness, but why did it happen? The driver of a car usually avoids motion sickness by fixing his gaze ahead and by visually anticipating every turn and bump in the road, keeping the eyes and the brain in synch. Staring at the controls of our car, I noticed that the dashboard has three sections with multiple gauges to read, the radio has many controls for satellite, CD, AM, FM, etc., the GPS has a map and other info, the wands control complex functions like the intermittent wipers and the cruise control, and I can even monitor my gas mileage, average speed, miles till empty and tire pressure, among many other things.

That’s when I understood that driving a high tech car involves frequent eye motion in multiple directions other than the road. Looking around at those buttons and dials is a sure recipe for motion sickness. Unlike the traditional car sickness that you got in your father’s old smelly Buick, this version of the disorder can be traced to the glut of information available to the driver of a high tech vehicle. Eureka!! I had discovered a new disease for the 21st century, and in the truest tradition of the great explorers and doctors in history, I will name it for myself “The Goldfinger Syndrome.”

My new favorite web site is “queasyrider.com” which is a support site for individuals prone to motion sickness. They review movies for nausea inducing properties (“barf factor”) and they rated the movie “Easy Eye” three “barf bags.” They also rate cruises for nausea potential and they gave the Alaska inside passage cruise three ‘barf bags” as well.

My internet review of this subject resulted in discovering a curious item at a health advice site, written by a nurse with a master’s degree. She stated that slow movement up and down, while accelerating forward, causes motion sickness more often than the fast up and down variation. I can’t imagine anyone getting motion sick during sex, but then I read on and found out that she was actually comparing the ride on a camel to that of a horse. Therefore, one must conclude that the best thing to do when riding a camel is to close your eyes.

Regarding therapy, the best bet is prevention. Take Dramamine or Bonine one hour before travel, but not if you are driving, because those drugs can make you dizzy and can be a driving safety issue, or take two ginger capsules (read the directions on the package).

There is much more to say, but my time is up. If you want more info, page Dr. Gupta. Also, if your dog gets car sick, just let him drive and he will be fine. As for me, I keep my snoopy eyes on the road ahead and let my wife read the dials for me. This is not only an anti-motion sickness strategy, but a safety precaution as well.

Please listen to this musical tribute to nausea free safe driving: www.YouTube.com/Video

This article is dedicated to Fred.