Motion sickness is a malady which has been around for thousands of years. In fact, the Greek word "naus" means "ship", which is where the word nausea comes from. With modern transportation becoming faster, motion sickness is more common today than it was hundreds of years ago, and many travelers are affected, sometimes incapacitated by motion sickness.

Motion sickness can occur in a car, airplane, ship or boat, train, camel, horse, amusement park ride, flight simulator, in space, in a motion picture, looking in a microscope, and several other situations. According to surveys, car sickness affects 58 percent of children, incapacitating airsickness occurs in 29 percent of airline pilots, space-motion sickness occurs in 50 percent of space shuttle astronauts, and up to 100 percent of ship passengers experience seasickness under rough conditions.

Although known by many names, motion sickness is the culprit in all described above. People of any age can suffer from motion sickness, but people over 40 can experience it more frequently, while children under 2 seem to be highly resistant, but can peak in children between 4 and 10.Women tend to suffer from motion sickness more than men, at any age.