Free Republic

Dr. Anna Wolfson says she sees dangerous misuse of the allergy medication diphenhydramine in her clinic every day. “If someone has an allergic reaction to a food, people will say, ‘Don’t worry, I have diphenhydramine in my purse,’ and I would say, ‘Really, epinephrine is the first-line treatment for food allergies,’” said Wolfson, an allergist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Diphenhydramine can be harmful if people take it after having an allergic reaction to food, she said, because the drug – best known by the brand name Benadryl – makes them drowsy and can cause them to miss signs that their...

A research group has discovered that using "a unique sound stimulation technology"—a device that stimulates the inner ear—reduces motion sickness. Even a single minute of stimulation reduced the staggering and discomfort felt by people that read in a moving vehicle. The results suggest a simple and effective way to treat this common disorder. "Our study demonstrated that short-term stimulation using a unique sound called 'sound spice' alleviates symptoms of motion sickness, such as nausea and dizziness," Kagawa said. "The effective sound level falls within the range of everyday environmental noise exposure, suggesting that the sound technology is both effective and...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Seventy-two small fish were briefly launched into space by researchers Thursday, hoping their swimming patterns would shed some light on motion sickness. German researchers sent the cichlids on a 10-minute rocket ride that blasted off from a launch pad in northern Sweden, said Professor Reinhard Hilbig, who was in charge of the project. "They were very happy, I think they want to have another flight," he said. The thumbnail-sized fish were filmed as they swam around weightlessly in small aquariums during the unmanned space flight. The German team will now study the video to see if some...