Motion sickness is a fairly common problem for people traveling by car, train, plane, and especially boat. Around the world, it affects about 1 in 3 people.
What the Study Results Show
The FDA green-lighted Nereus on the basis of clinical trials involving hundreds of participants.
Fewer than 20 percent of people who took tradipitant experienced vomiting, compared with more than 44 percent of those who took a placebo.
How Does It Work?
Motion sickness is thought to happen when the brain gets conflicting sensory signals from your eyes, inner ear, and the body’s innate sense of position and movement (called proprioception).
“For instance, while on a boat, your inner ear senses the rolling motion, but if you’re inside looking at a stationary surface, your eyes signal that you’re not moving,” says Mihael H. Polymeropoulos, MD, the CEO of Vanda Pharmaceuticals, the maker of the new medicine. “This mismatch confuses the brain,” he says.
When this sickening sensation happens, the nervous system releases a chemical messenger called substance P, which then binds to receptors in the brain that activate the vomiting reflex — specifically neurokinin-1, or NK-1, receptors.
“Nereus marks an important advance because it introduces a completely new mechanism of action, grounded in current scientific understanding of the brain pathways that trigger vomiting,” says Dr. Polymeropoulos.
Polymeropoulos says Nereus avoids the common pitfalls of these earlier medications for motion sickness, like drowsiness, dry mouth, and blurred vision.
- Maropitant, for the prevention of vomiting in dogs and cats due to motion sickness
- Aprepitant, for prevention of nausea and vomiting in humans after surgery
A New Choice — but Is It More Effective?
Adrian Priesol, MD, the medical director at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an assistant professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at Harvard Medical School in Boston, views tradipitant as a new option for motion sickness that may help people who don’t respond as well to other treatments.
Whether it’s more effective than existing therapies, however, remains to be seen.
“That’s unknown at this time, as there are no head-to-head comparison data I am aware of,” says Dr. Priesol, who was not involved in the drug research.
“The new medication seems to work best on motion-induced vomiting, but it is not clear how effective it is in treating just nausea.”
Could Tradipitant Help With GLP-1 Nausea?
Nausea and vomiting are frequent side effects of GLP-1s, and they are some of the most frequently cited reasons that people stop taking these drugs.
Nondrug Options for Motion Sickness and Vomiting
While medication can be very effective at reducing motion sickness, Priesol points out that some patients find relief with nondrug solutions, including:
- Minimal sensory conflict: For example, keep your eyes on the road when you’re a passenger in a moving vehicle, or sit in the front of a boat to keep a fixed view on the horizon.
- Behavioral techniques: Controlled breathing and relaxation may ease discomfort.
- Ginger candies: Some find that this natural remedy eases queasiness.
- Acupressure wristbands: Also called “sea bands,” these simple devices are thought to work by influencing energy pathways, potentially releasing endorphins and altering neurotransmitters.
