How can nausea and vomiting be prevented?
The best way to treat nausea and vomiting is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. Many new and improved medicines for controlling nausea and vomiting, called antiemetics, have been developed over the last several years. These drugs block the signal in the brain that causes nausea and vomiting. As a result of widespread use of antiemetics, nausea and/or vomiting is not as severe and does not occur as frequently as in the past. There are many different kinds of antiemetics and you may need to try more than one before finding a prescription that works for you. 5-HT3 inhibitors: The 5HT-3 Inhibitors are the most effective antiemetics and constitute the single greatest advance in the management of nausea and vomiting in patients with cancer. These drugs are designed to block one or more of the signals that cause nausea and vomiting. The most sensitive signal during the first 24 hours after chemotherapy appears to be 5-HT3. Blocking the 5-HT3 signal is one approach to preventing
