Causes of vomiting

Vomiting is a symptom, not a disease - the body's forceful emptying of the stomach - and its causes range from a harmless bad meal to emergencies that need immediate care.

The everyday causes. Food poisoning and stomach infections (viral gastroenteritis, contaminated food or water) top the list in India, usually with diarrhoea. Overeating, very oily or spicy food, alcohol excess, indigestion and gastritis are the other common ones. These usually settle in a day or two.

Body-wide causes. Fever and infections anywhere (including urine infections in children), migraine attacks, motion sickness, vertigo, and medicines (including antibiotics, painkillers on an empty stomach, and chemotherapy) all cause vomiting. Uncontrolled diabetes can vomit from ketoacidosis - a dangerous state.

Pregnancy. Nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy (morning sickness) is common and usually mild. When it becomes relentless - nothing stays down, weight drops, urine turns scanty - it is hyperemesis gravidarum and needs medical care, not endurance.

The serious causes (know these):

• Head injury or brain problems: vomiting with severe headache, drowsiness, confusion, or after a fall/accident.
• Intestinal obstruction or appendicitis: vomiting with severe or worsening abdominal pain, a swollen hard abdomen, no passage of stool or gas; green (bile-stained) vomit is an obstruction warning.
• Bleeding in the stomach: vomit that is blood-streaked or looks like coffee grounds.
• In infants: forceful (projectile) vomiting after feeds in a young baby suggests pyloric stenosis; green vomit at any infant age is an emergency.

In children: the same list applies, plus intolerance to feeds and infections; children dehydrate far faster than adults, which changes the urgency of everything above.

Ayurvedic view (interpretive): classical texts describe vomiting (chardi) as aggravated doshas - chiefly pitta and kapha - expelling upward, from causes like unsuitable food and indigestion. An interpretive framework with limited evidence; the cause-based modern list above is what determines safety.

Remember: most vomiting is a short-lived stomach upset - but blood, green bile, severe headache, severe abdominal pain, projectile vomiting in an infant, or vomiting with drowsiness after a head injury means emergency care (112/108), not home remedies.