According to the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, 25 percent of the general population suffers from chronic unexplained nausea. Not all who experience nausea have the same symptoms, and the causes can be many. Ruling out causes and conditions can be a first step to a diagnosis and recovery.

Identification

Nausea is described as the feeling or the sensation of an urge to vomit . When a person vomits, contents of the stomach are forced up and travel up the esophagus, and are then expelled out of the mouth.

Considerations

Nausea and vomiting are the body's means of ridding harmful irritants, toxins and invaders from the body. Nausea can be coaxed by visual clues, the brain, smells, thoughts, dizziness and inner ear conditions, and movement.

Causes

Women of child-bearing age should always rule out pregnancy. Migraine headaches, kidney stones, viral infections, food allergies, motion sickness and peptic ulcers can all cause recurring and chronic nausea.

Conditions

Serious conditions such as food poisoning, brain tumors, bulimia, chemotherapy treatments and alcoholism also can cause chronic nausea.

Neuromuscular Disorders

Neuromusclar disorders can also can chronic nausea. A 2003 report by Dr. Kenneth Koch, chief of the gastroenterology section at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, explained that some patients with unexplained nausea have electrical dysrhythmias. This is where the stomach pumps too fast or too slow. Others have gastroparesis, where the stomach is paralyzed and does not pump at all. Nausea results is both cases.

Warning

Chronic nausea can be serious and needs to be treated. If there are signs of dehydration, severe stomach pain, headache and stiff neck, and/or coughing up or vomiting blood, emergency care should be sought.

Source:

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center: Unexplained Chronic Nausea

Medicine Plus: Nausea and Vomiting