Nausea

For other uses, see Nausea (disambiguation)}}}.

Nausea (Greek Ναυτεία) is the sensation of unease and discomfort in the stomach with an urge to vomit.

Causes

Nausea is not an illness in itself; it is rather a possible symptom of several conditions, many of which are not related to the stomach at all. In fact, more often than not nausea indicates a condition somewhere else in the body rather than in the stomach itself. An example of this is travel sickness, which is due to confusion between perceived movement and actual movement. Our sense of equilibrium lies in the ear and works together with eyesight. When these two don't "agree" to what extent the body is actually moving the symptom is presented as nausea even though the stomach itself has nothing to do with the situation. One would maybe expect a headache or something to that effect to be more logical since that would better indicate the problem's place of origin. Nausea is also an adverse effect of many drugs.

In medicine, nausea is a particular problem during some chemotherapy regimens and following general anaesthesia. Nausea is also a common symptom of pregnancy. Even though nausea is generally seen as an indication that something is wrong, experiencing it during pregnancy is quite normal, and should not be considered an immediate cause for alarm.

Other causes include: altitude sickness, angina, anxiety, brain tumor, cirrhosis, clinical depression, coeliac disease, colorectal cancer, common cold, coughing fit, Crohn's disease, decompression sickness, dehydration, depression, disgust, esophagitis, flu, food poisoning, gastroesophageal reflux disease, gastroenteritis, hangover, head injury, hepatitis C, hepatocellular carcinoma, hydrocephalus, hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia, hyponatremia, hypoxia (medical), intestinal parasite, irritable bowel syndrome, kidney stone, labyrinthitis, lassa fever, lead poisoning, love sickness, mastocytosis, Ménière’s disease, migraine, morning sickness, motion sickness, myocardial infarction, ovarian cancer, panic attack, peptic ulcer, peritonitis, pneumonia, porphyria, postoperative nausea and vomiting, pseudomembranous colitis, psoriasis, Rocky mountain spotted fever, Scarlet fever, smallpox, strep throat, trichinosis, ulcerative colitis, viral infections, withdrawal, stomach cancer

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Treatment

While short-term nausea and vomiting are generally harmless, they may sometimes indicate a more serious condition, such as Celiac Disease. When associated with prolonged vomiting, it may cause dangerous levels of dehydration and/or electrolyte imbalances.

Symptomatic treatment for nausea and vomiting may include short-term avoidance of solid food. This is usually easy as nausea is nearly always associated with loss of appetite. Dehydration may require rehydration with oral or intravenous electrolyte solutions. Oral rehydration (drinking water) is safer and simpler in most cases.

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