[Considerations about methods to test the effectiveness of anti-vertiginous drugs (author's transl)]

The testing by different methods of the effectiveness of three anti-vertiginous drugs (Diphenhydramine, L-Hyoscyamine, and PB 795) has also yielded interesting results concerning the benefit-cost ratio of the methods employed. Sustained thermal stimulation enables better observation of the kind of effect produced by a drug on the nystagmus, the onset and development of this effect, than repeated rotatory stimuli. From among methods employed in testing motion-sickness symptoms the measuring of perspiration on a definite area of the forehead has proved simplest and most reliable. Habituation is negligible, whereas it is marked during analysis of subjective symptoms and when psycho-galvanic skin reflexes are measured. Diphenhydramin proved more effective than the other drugs tested. Its rapid effect in the form of intravenous injection makes it very suitable for emergency situations such as the treatment of Menière's attack. L-Hyoscyamin is suitable when sedation is undesirable. PB 795, a anti-depressant is effective but produces disturbance of accommodation as a side effect, so that it appears unsuitable for treating motion-sickness.