Prevention of motion sickness in flight maneuvers, aided by transfer of adaptation effects acquired in the laboratory: ten consecutive referrals.
Ten flyers, grounded because of nausea and vomiting, were referred as potential candidates for adaptation to cross-coupled angular accelerations in a slow-rotation room; such adaptation has been shown to "transfer" to flight maneuvers. There was no opportunity to attempt treatment in two candidates. Among the remaining eight, five regained flight status (62.5%); follow-up periods of those five candidates ranged from 10 to 27 months. In one of the three remaining candidates, a satisfactory level of adaptation was achieved but more than 4 months elapsed before his assignment to a duty squadron. After becoming sick in his first flight (F-104), he submitted a request to be removed from duty involving flying. In the remaining two candidates, the rate of their acquisition of adaptation not only was very slow but also, after leveling off, actually declined. In other words, poor as well as good performance is demonstrable in the slow-rotation room.
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000328:Adult; D006257:Head / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009041:Motion Sickness / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009068:Movement; D012399:Rotation