By Mary Kundert

The Corner Pharmacist

Now that we’re in the full swing of the summer vacation season, I thought it would be useful to address two common travel ailments in today’s issue.

Dear Mary: Despite the fact that I suffer from sea sickness, I enjoy going on cruises. In the past, I’ve used various drugs, including Dramamine and scopolamine patches, but I really don’t like how I feel on them. I hear that ginger is an herbal treatment for motion sickness, and I’d like to learn more about it. Does it really work? Can it interact with my prescription drugs?

Rita - Los Altos

Ginger is one of those amazing herbs with a history of medicinal use that spans the entire globe over many centuries. Double-blind placebo-controlled scientific studies have shown ginger to be both safe and effective in the treatment of nausea and motion sickness. Sea sickness is a type of motion sickness. A typical dose for this use would be 1 gram of the ginger powder capsules 2-4 times daily, beginning a day or two before departure.

Ginger is very safe to use, with no reported side effects at recommended dosages. Many conventional doctors prefer to treat motion sickness with ginger capsules in their elderly patients because this population can be more susceptible to the drowsiness and loss of balance caused by most conventional drugs.

There are no known drug interactions with ginger. Test-tube experiments using ginger extracts showed some interference with blood coagulation, which led to the theory that ginger should not be combined with drugs such as Coumadin or aspirin. Even though human studies have not been conclusive, one should use caution when combining ginger with blood thinning drugs.

Another common vacation ailment is traveler’s diarrhea. However you treat it, I highly recommend taking probiotics afterwards. Probiotics play the critical role of food processing and nutrient uptake in the gut. A bout of diarrhea will disrupt our normal flora, as will antibiotics. Probiotics do not cause adverse effects nor drug interactions.

Kundert is available by appointment only for 10-minute consultations sponsored by Los Altos Pharmacy.