It Makes Me Sick – Why?

[anaxcrosswords]

You see it all the time. A film or TV programme where a detective discovers some gruesome remains and is physically sick. Or someone will say to you “The sight of it actually made me sick”.
Why does the body react in that way?

[ummmm]

It only happened to me that one time. It was pure shock because it was unexpected. Death itself doesn't make me sick.

[pixie373]

Yes, it's the adrenaline. Fight or flight. The stomach emptied itself as quickly as possible, one way or another.

[ummmm]

I have a terrible weak stomach. I will be sick if I see someone get sick so I guess if I seen something gruesome I'd probably be sick. I gagged earlier when I seen a squashed slug outside my front door.

[pixie373]

I gag if i see, hear or smell vomit- perhaps a reflex in case everyone in a group ate the same food. Just can't deal with vomit. Yuk!

[ummmm]

I remember when my daughter was little she got violently sick in her bedroom. I had to phone my dad to come and clean it up. Pathetic really :-) I couldn't be a nurse.

[Peter Pedant]

All the phys books have the 'old' model

CTZ - -> . Vo Ce - > X

two bits of the brain, chemosensitive trigger zone and vomiting centre
and different drugs affect the two bits. X is the tenth cranial n - the vagus

what anax is talking about are 'cortical influences' - we know that because sight and sound are represented in the cortex and not below

and over the last twenty y there has been virtually nothing written on cortical influences on the vomiting centre ( or CTZ )

Sqad will have learnt all this at med sch - and I am surprised how little it has changed over 50 or so years.

[Sqad]

PP

\\\\Sqad will have learnt all this at med sch \\\

LOL....and forgotten most of it.

[Peter Pedant]

no sqad I thought your explanation was perfick