jueves, 4 de agosto de 2016

Space Travel May Pose Risks to Heart: MedlinePlus

Space Travel May Pose Risks to Heart: MedlinePlus



Space Travel May Pose Risks to Heart

Exposure to radiation might explain Apollo astronauts' rate of heart problems, researcher says
     
By Robert Preidt
Thursday, July 28, 2016
HealthDay news image
THURSDAY, July 28, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Former Apollo astronauts have up to five times the rate of heart-related deaths that their Earth-bound peers do, a new study shows.
And researchers suspect that exposure to deep space radiation may be the reason why.
"We know very little about the effects of deep space radiation on human health, particularly on the cardiovascular system. This gives us the first glimpse into its adverse effects on humans," said Michael Delp, dean of the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
The Apollo space program ran from 1961 to 1972. It included 11 manned space flights, some of which went to the moon. Nine of those missions went beyond Earth's orbit into deep space.
The study included data from seven of 24 Apollo astronauts who have died and found that 43 percent of them died from a heart problem. An eighth Apollo astronaut died after the analysis was completed.
That rate of heart-related death is four to five times higher than among astronauts who have not left Earth and those whose missions were limited to low Earth orbit, Delp said, though the study couldn't prove cause and effect.
He and his colleagues also exposed mice to the type of radiation Apollo astronauts would have been exposed to in space. After six months -- equal to 20 human years -- the mice had impaired artery function known to lead to heart disease, researchers reported.
"What the mouse data show is that deep space radiation is harmful to vascular health," Delp said in a university news release.
The study was published July 28 in the journal Scientific Reports.
SOURCE: Florida State University, news release, July 28, 2016
HealthDay
News stories are provided by HealthDay and do not reflect the views of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or federal policy.
More Health News on:
Heart Diseases
Radiation Exposure

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario