Future directions in understanding nausea and vomiting

Abstract

Nausea and vomiting are important and debilitating symptoms to patients, but can also be frustrating for physicians since treatments are often ineffective. Understanding of nausea and vomiting from pathophysiologic and treatment standpoints is advancing, particularly in regard to gastroparesis, post-op ileus, and chemotherapy. This chapter reviews aspects of our current understanding of nausea and vomiting and discusses future directions for nausea and vomiting research. Future directions discussed include: (1) better characterization of neural pathways and receptors mediating nausea and vomiting; (2) improving evaluation of patients with chronic nausea and vomiting; and (3) improving treatments and enhancing drug development.