A new study led by Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers found that oral promethazine, a drug commonly taken to alleviate motion sickness, temporarily worsened vestibular perception thresholds by 31 percent, lowering one's ability to perceive sensory information about motion, balance and spatial orientation. These findings, published online in the Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, may suggest that people taking the medication should take extra precautions to prevent falls, since shifts in vestibular perception thresholds are associated with poorer performance on standardized balance tests.
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