Study Finds Effective Formulation for Motion Sickness in Children

by | Jun 9, 2016 | 2014, Infant and Children's Health, Magnesium

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Of the 254 children suffering from motion sickness, those who received simplificiolia with magnesium for three months significantly improved their motion sickness symptoms.

Motion sickness is a condition that is caused by unfamiliar body accelerations to which the person cannot adapt due to a conflict between how the brain receives information from the ears and the eyes (1). The symptoms of motion sickness are facial pallor, cold sweats, nausea, and vomiting. Other additional signs include hyperventilation, drowsiness, headache, fatigue, and postural instability (2).

Motion sickness is common during childhood (3), specifically between the ages of 2 and 12 (4). Because current medications for motion sickness can have side effects that include sleepiness, dry mouth, vertigo, confusion, and insomnia (5), and the only non-pharmacologic approaches include playing pleasant music (6) or verbal cues given to the child (7, 8), a non-pharmacologic supplement is needed.

Now a new study (9) suggests a specific formulation may help those suffering from motion sickness. The study involved 254 children aged of 5 and 10 and suffering from motion sickness. They were given a combination of 50 milligrams of G. simplicifolia with 200 milligrams of magnesium (127 children) or placebo (127 children) twice daily for 3 months. The extract of G. simplicifolia was used, as it is a direct precursor for serotonin, whose low levels in the brain are thought to play a role in motion sickness (10). The parents of the children recorded episodes of motion sickness as well as severity on a visual analog scale from “0” (no symptoms) to “10” (worst possible symptoms).

After 3 months, only 36% of those in the formulation group were suffering from motion sickness compared to 73% in the placebo group (p < 0.001). Regarding severity, the 36% of children in the formulation group still suffering from motion sickness had significantly milder symptoms on the visual analog scale compared to the placebo group (2.59 versus 7.42, p < 0.001).

When suggesting how this formulation produced these healthful benefits, the researchers pointed to studies showing magnesium to decrease neurotransmitter levels in the brain called catecholamines which increase nervous system activity (11) as well as affect cell membrane function of receptors called NMDA receptors which also affect nervous system activity (12).

The researchers went on to conclude that the formulation of G. simplicifolia with magnesium “could be considered a new, safe, and effective approach” in children with motion sickness but did not call for larger studies to confirm their results.

Source: Esposito et al 2015 A Medical Food Formulation of Griffonia simplicifolia/Magnesium for Childhood Periodic Syndrome Therapy:An Open-Label Study on Motion Sickness. J Med Food 00 (0) 2015, 1–5; DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2014.0113

© Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., and Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition

Posted June 8, 2016.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com.

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  3. Reason JT, Brand JJ: Motion Sickness. Academic Press, London, 1975
  4. “What causes car sickness in children and how can I prevent it?” posted on the Mayo Clinic website
  5. Lin YG, Chen PH, Chang FY, et al.: Delirium due to scopolamine patch in a 4-year-old boy. J Formos Med Assoc 2011;110:208–211
  6. Keshavarz B, Hecht H: Pleasant music as a countermeasure against visually induced motion sickness. Appl Ergon 2014;45: 521–527
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  9. Esposito M.   A Medical Food Formulation of Griffonia simplicifolia/Magnesium for Childhood Periodic Syndrome Therapy: An Open-Label Study on Motion Sickness. J Med Food. 2015 Aug;18(8):916-20. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2014.0113. Epub 2015 Jan 15
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  11. Soave PM, Conti G, Costa R, Arcangeli A: Magnesium and anaesthesia. Curr Drug Targets 2009;10:734–743
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