Milford chronicle., 1962-07-27
This TronqviIizer
Prevents Air Sickness


Meprobamate, mild tranquilizer
widely used, affords significant pro
lection against airsickness," medi-
cal researchers reported in h e
current Journal of the American
Medical Association.
John j. Franks, MD, Lawrence
j. Mich, Ph!Dl, and Elmer V. Dahl,
MD, Brooks Air Force Base, Tex
as, tested the drug among All air.
men who volunteered for the study.
While tranquilizer would not be
desirable to prevent motion sick
ness in pilots or combat personnel
they said, it might be useful for
passengers since the drug is noted
for it's low rate of adverse side eff
fects.
Furthermore, it may not be nee
essary to prescribe antimotion
sickness drugs for passengers E.
ceiving meprobamate for other rea-
sons, at least for relatively short
flights" they said.
In the study, the airmen were
given identical capsules containing
either meprobamate, mecliZine, a n
effective motion sickness preventi-
tive, combination of these t W o
drugs, or simply sugar about two
hours before a flight in C-54, the
researchers said. The airmen rang
ed from IL to 20 years of age and
had little or no flying experience,
they said. o
After an hour of straight a n d
level flight, they said, the airmen
were subjected to simulated turbu-
lence, in which the plane pitched
and waved, rolled and turned,
climbed and descended, for 10 to
25 minutes. o
Forty-six percent of the volun-
teers who had received the sugar
pills became sick during t h e i r
flights compared with 26 percent of
those who took meprobamate, %
percent of those who took mecliz-
inc, and "a per cent of those who
received both drugs, the research
ers said.
Our results indicate that mepro-
bafpate affords significant protec5
tion against airsickness equal to
that of meclizine, and that a COM
bination of these two drugs is not
better than either drug alone" the
researchers said.
The effectiveness of meproba-
mate is surprising" the authors
said. Despite the probable role of
psychological factors in m o t o n
sickness. they said, tranquilizers
previously tested proved of it t o
value in preventing the syndrome.
However, they said there is a
distinct difference between t h e
tranquilizers investigated earlier,
all of which affect the involuntary
nervous system, and meprobamate,
which is classified as a muscle re-
1axant and does not affect the in
voluntary nervous system.
Since extensive trials during the
World War III, antihistamines have
emerged as the most effective
drugs for m0tion sickness. Mecliz-
inc lis an aHtihistamine and i k
other antihistamines it also has a
tranquilizing effect. Its mode of
action in preventing motion sick
ness has not been determined
Meprobamate has no antihistam-
inic effects, but its tranquilizing
effect may be somewhat similar to
meclizine, the researchers said.
"On the other hand" they said,
"the exposure of individuals with
Qittle previous flying experience to
sudden, violent motion of S h ort
duration may provide situation
where tranquilization is uniquely
effective"
The effectiveness of meproba-
pate against more prolonged mo-
tion remains to be determined they
said.
1t also would be interesting to
study mephenesin, another muscle
reIaxant, under similar Conditions,
they said, since this drug resem-
bles meprobamate but has only a
slight tranquilizing action.
The authors are affiliated with
the Pharmacology Biochemistry
and Pathology Branches, School of
AerOSpaep Medicine