NASA shared the results of its ongoing research project, Space Omics and Medical Atlas, on the effects of living in space on astronauts’ health, revealing that spaceflight accelerates aging.
A research paper published in Scientific Reports on June 11 indicates that living in space can increase inflammation and genetic instability and cause dysfunction in mitochondria (the energy generators inside the cell), which accelerates aging. Previous research has found that spending a long period of time in a low-gravity space environment can harm the human body.
NASA said, according to an article published in the American magazine Newsweek: “Spaceflight caused noticeable changes in gene expression patterns related to frailty and muscle loss. Exposure to the space environment leads to changes related to inflammation, muscle wasting, and other age-related traits that have been observed in both mice and humans.” “.
This comes in the wake of claims that International Space Station Commander Sunita “Sonny” Williams has lost unhealthy weight. The astronaut said in a recent interview that she was the same weight as she was before arriving in space in June.
Lack of gravity exhausts the body
Muscles don’t have to work as hard to support the body in zero gravity, so they can weaken over time. Bones also lose their density, which increases the risk of fractures. Astronauts do daily exercises to counter these effects, but full recovery often takes time after they return to Earth. Zero gravity is a state in which people or objects appear weightless.
“Astronauts are experiencing accelerated bone loss at an alarming rate, about 12 times faster than severe osteoporosis on Earth,” Kyle Zagrodzki, founder and CEO of the OsteoStrong Bone Health Clinic, told Newsweek. “This rapid deterioration occurs because the bones can no longer withstand the constant load of gravity.” “In space, as a result, density and strength diminish rapidly, compressing years of potential osteoporosis into just months.”
Larger heads and risk of cancer
In the absence of gravity, body fluids such as blood and lymph move upward toward the head, causing the face to swell and putting pressure on the eyes. Over time, this can cause changes in vision, known as “spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome,” and, in some cases, permanent visual problems.
“People’s heads in space appear a little larger because the fluid is balanced along the body,” Williams says.
Space also contains much higher levels of cosmic radiation than Earth. Prolonged exposure aboard the International Space Station, where astronauts are partially shielded by the Earth’s magnetosphere, still carries risks of increased cancer rates, nervous system damage and other radiation-related health problems.