Munich - Oktoberfest, sometimes very sober. Is that possible? Yes! Privatdozentin Dr. Doreen Huppert from the Institute for Clinical Neurosciences at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich looks at the Oktoberfest from a purely neurological perspective.
She is one of around 7,000 neurologists who are currently discussing new research results in the field at the “Neurowoche 2014” congress in Munich. In an interview, she reveals what the dizziness is all about after a great evening.
-Mrs. Huppert, do you like to ride a carousel?
Actually not, I don't like violent turning and skidding movements. When I'm at the Oktoberfest, I prefer to get on the Zugspitz Bahn.
-Some like it wild, but are often not completely free from giddiness. What happens to them?
It is possible that they could catch something called motion sickness - which also includes motion sickness and seasickness. The person concerned becomes dizzy, sick, sweats, increased saliva is produced, and some vomit. The symptoms can always arise when one is passively transported: in the car, on a ship - or while driving a carousel.
-How does it happen - from a neurological point of view?
Dizziness occurs when the sense of balance is disturbed. This is mainly due to the interaction of the sense of balance in the inner ear and certain nerve areas in the brain. The eyes as well as messages from muscles and joints about the position of the body also play a role. During a carousel ride, for example, the eyes and the balance organ of the inner ear report contradicting movements to our brain - and that leads to dizziness.
-How dangerous is that?
Safe - but uncomfortable. The dizziness usually disappears within a short time after the carousel ride.
-And what if I feel miserable any longer?
Then there could be motion sickness, but it usually subsides after a day. Even seasickness improves after three days, even if you are still on the high seas, because the brain has then adapted. But nobody drives the carousel that long.
- Purely hypothetical: Would you do that and the symptoms would subside on their own - would you be immunized for the future?
No. Unfortunately, the adjustment is only temporary.
-Do you have any tips on how to alleviate this suffering?
Open your eyes during the carousel ride and keep your head as still as possible.
-What if I get caught in the car or on the high seas?
The same procedure helps because it reduces the contradicting messages from the eye and the balance organ to the brain - i.e. turning versus standing still. People prone to motion sickness may take certain medication, tablets, or chewing gum before making a long car or sea voyage. There are also special plasters that you can stick behind your ear for prevention. Such remedies make you tired, among other things - they are not recommended for short stimuli such as a carousel ride.
-At the Oktoberfest people like to drink a little more ...
Along with many other things, this can lead to so-called alcoholic positional vertigo.
-What's this?
When you drink beer at Oktoberfest, the alcohol is absorbed into the blood and also penetrates the balance organ in the inner ear - but not in all areas at the same speed there.
-What's next?
Alcohol disturbs the interaction of different parts within the organ of equilibrium: Our brain is falsely reported a turning movement - this leads to vertigo, nausea, sometimes vomiting for a few hours, especially when moving the head and body. If the alcohol blood level falls again, there is the second false report to the brain. After about ten hours, the ghost is over.
-The only remedy is to drink less.
Exactly.
-There is still benign positional vertigo ...
But it has nothing to do with alcohol consumption. This is the most common dizziness. You can get them anywhere, not just at Oktoberfest.
-And how?
Jerky head movements, for example. It can happen that so-called stones in the equilibrium organ detach from their place and are flushed into one of the semicircular canals of the equilibrium organ - which leads to the false notification of a rotational movement to the brain. This causes the positional vertigo. In the worst case, every head movement leads to vertigo and vomiting. The diagnosis should be made by a neurologist and perform a so-called position maneuver.
-How does such a situation maneuver work?
In principle, the patient is moved from one side of the body to the other relatively quickly while sitting, so that the stone leaves the semicircular canal again ...
-Sounds like a wilder carousel ride.
(laughs) Not exactly. I would strongly advise anyone against doing this on their own. First of all, specialists need to find out which organ of equilibrium is affected and then make the appropriate maneuver.
Interview: Barbara Nazarewska
The Neurowoche 2014 runs until this Friday. The program is available online: www.neurowoche2014.org
