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Janet Jackson: how her mystery illness is like space sickness
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Turns out that pop star Janet Jackson may have more in common with astronauts than her nutsy moon-walkin' brother Michael Jackson ever dreamed of. Jackson, Janet, has had to cancel appearances because of a condition called "vestibular migraine"--which sounds a lot like the vestibular disturbances of space adaptation syndrome (SAS)--or space sickness.
Make no mistake about it--migraines, in whatever form, are a very serious illness. Migraines are a "..neurological disease," and can occur in many forms, including ocular migraine and Jackson's form, vestibular migraine.
A migraine is more than "just a headache." When I was struggling to understand mine, one of my doctors described migraines like this: "Imagine that someone opens your head, takes your brain out, turns it upside down, and then shoots lightning bolts into it at random. You'll have effects all through your body."
He was right. As Jackson struggles to get her Rock Witchu show back on the road, she's battling symptoms that are very similar to another vestibular problem: space sickness. Although "The Right Stuff" myth may present astronauts as super-humans who never get sick, that's not the reality of the space business.
The NationMaster encyclopedia summarizes the space sickness problem adroitly:
Around 60% of all Space Shuttle astronauts currently experience it on their first flight; the first case is now suspected to be Gherman Titov, in 1960, who reported dizziness and nausea. However, the first significant cases were in early Apollo flights; Frank Borman on Apollo 8 and Rusty Schweickart on Apollo 9 both experienced identifiable and reasonably severe cases, in the latter case causing the mission plan to be modified.
As with motion sickness, symptoms can vary from mild nausea and disorientation to vomiting and intense discomfort; headaches and nausea are often reported in varying degrees. About half of sufferers experience mild symptoms; only around ten percent suffer severely. The most extreme reaction yet recorded was that felt by Senator Jake Garn in 1985; after his flight, NASA developed the "Garn scale" to measure reactions to space sickness. It runs from one to ten to cover most known cases; Garn himself rated thirteen. In most cases, it lasts two to four days.
Modern motion-sickness medication can counter space sickness, but is rarely used; it is felt that having astronauts adapt for a couple of days is better than them being drowsy and medicated for the duration of a mission. A general solution is now to ensure that any mission-critical activities (especially spacewalks, where vomiting could be fatal) are not planned in the first days of a mission; this allows crews to adapt and orient themselves properly.
Both NASA and the European Space Agency have commissioned many studies on space sickness. One that began earlier this year involved research on how centrifuge reactions were related to SAS:
- During the first days in space 50-80 % of the crewmembers suffer from the space adaptation syndrome (SAS). Motion Perception: Vestibular Adaptation to G-Transitions (MOP) will examine the hypothesis that susceptibility to SAS correlates with susceptibility to sickness induced by centrifugation (SIC).
- This is of interest since a correlation implicates a general vestibular adaptation mechanism to changing G-levels. The vestibular adaptation to gravity transitions forms the focus of the current experiments.
Space sickness, though is caused by a specific thing: being in space. Jackson's problem is caused by an internal neurological problem.
Neurologist Oliver Sacks, of "Awakenings" fame wrote one of the best books around on migraine. In Migraine, Sacks explores a disabling world:
The many manifestations of migraine can vary dramatically from one patient to another, even within the same patient at different times. Among the most compelling and perplexing of these symptoms are the strange visual hallucinations and distortions of space, time, and body image which migraineurs sometimes experience. Portrayals of these uncanny states have found their way into many works of art, from the heavenly visions of Hildegard von Bingen to Alice in Wonderland.
Jackson's team hasn't said whether or not the star suffers from visual disturbances (auras). But the vestibular portion of migraines, like space sickness, can rock even a star's reality.
Ironically, Jackson's latest website features a science fiction style space theme. "Travel to Lemuria---monitor home worlds for signs of activity" says the glitzy lead-in.
Janet, honey, come back down out of space! Next time, try the "Back on Earth" tour.
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