Medical Mystery: Disembarkment Syndrome Their Planes Have Landed, Their Ships Have Docked, but They Still Feel as If They're in Motion From: ABC News Health - 01/24/2007 By: Kate Harrington and Erica Baumgart Imagine that you go on a fun cruise and it becomes a cruise that transforms your life. "When I got off the cruise, I knew that something was wrong," Kimberly Johnson said. "And once I got off is when I realized that I felt like I was still onboard. It didn't go away." Johnson has been diagnosed with a rare condition that goes by the French name of mal de debarquement (MdDs), or disembarkment syndrome. MdDS is characterized by that feeling of constant rocking or feeling off-balance after prolonged exposure to motion, most typically but not exclusively, on a boat. ... ABC's John Quinones met Kimberly Johnson at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, where she could try experimental devices in hope of finding relief. Drs. Conrad Wall and Lars Oddsson are developing a biofeedback vest and socks to help the elderly and others prone to falling. The devices vibrate to signal users to correct their balance when they tilt off-course. They are still one-of-a-kind experiments, but they do seem to help Johnson feel increasingly stable when using the vest and socks. View the narrative of this show at: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2817081&page=1 Watch the video: http://www.wate.com/global/story.asp?s=1343812&displayHelp=true&displayHelp=true ABC Message Board: http://forums.go.com/abcnews/Health/thread?threadID=516407 Links: MdDS Balance Disorder Foundation http://www.nhffoundations.net/mdds/ Vestibular Disorders Association http://www.vestibular.org/vestibular-disorders/specific-disorders/mal-de-debarquement.php Mal de Debarquement Syndrome http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/central/mdd.html Conrad Wall cwall@mit.edu Balancing Act http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/12/04/balancing_act/ Lars Oddsson http://nmrc.bu.edu/fac_staff/faculty/oddsson/index.html