Thursday, February 6, 2014

So How Exactly Does Vomiting Occur

How Does Vomiting Occur?


Definition


Vomiting is when a human or animal releases the contents of his or her stomach up through the esophagus and out the mouth or nasal passage.


Medically


There is a spot in the human brain stem called the vomiting center. This is the part that communicates to the rest of the body that it needs to vomit. Once that message is sent an individual will begin to feel nausea, start to salivate and have a sick feeling in her stomach. Soon thereafter, the abdominal muscles begin to contract forcing the stomach contents up through the esophagus and out the mouth and nose.


Where the Vomiting Signals Come From


We know that the vomiting center receives the information that it needs to vomit and that it sends that message out to the proper parts of the body that do the vomiting. What we need to know is how does the vomiting center get its information that the body needs to vomit. There are four ways these signals get to the vomiting center.


1. The chemoreceptor trigger zone detects the chemical reasons the body needs to vomit. This can be alcohol and illegal drugs.


2. The vestibular system sends signals to the vomiting center when it is unstable such as when a person experiences motion sickness on a boat or from spinning around to many times.


3. Cranial nerve X activates a signal when the pharynx is bothered.


4. Vagal and enteric nervous systems send signals when the gastrointestinal system is experiencing trouble. This could be from food poisoning, infections, or chemotherapy.


Causes


There can be several different reasons for the brain to tell the body it needs to vomit. They can be an infection in the body, a contracted virus, a reaction to some medication, a bad smell, chemotherapy, a brain tumor, migraines, concussions, and seeing someone else vomit. You must know the cause of your vomiting in order to treat it.


Treatment


Vomiting must run its course. This shouldn't be any more than twenty four hours. Anything longer than that and you must seek medical treatment. Vomiting longer than twenty-four hours is a symptom of a more series illness. There is no way to stop the vomiting, but the patient should continue to drink clear liquids so that he does not dehydrate. Once he stats feeling better he should eat some chicken soup or munch on some Saltines.









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