The Briefing Room
General Category => Science, Technology and Knowledge => Space => Topic started by: Suppressed on July 28, 2016, 09:43:32 pm
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HEALTH JUL 28 2016, 2:23 PM ET
Deep Space Radiation Caused Heart Problems For Apollo Astronauts
by SAMUEL SARMIENTO, M.D.
The Apollo astronauts — the first men to land on the moon — took a giant leap for mankind. But the deep space radiation that dosed the men who left the Earth's orbit may have damaged their hearts, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal Science.
The number of deaths due to heart disease among the Apollo lunar astronauts is almost five times greater than that in non-flight astronauts, or astronauts who never flew missions in space, researchers from Florida State University found. Compared to astronauts who flew only in low Earth orbit (LEO), the heart risk among Apollo astronauts is four times higher. There were no differences between LEO and non-flight astronauts.
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Unlike astronauts in other space missions, Apollo lunar astronauts are the only humans to have traveled outside of the Earth's geomagnetic field and into deep-space. They went outside of the earth's protective "magnetosphere" — the region surrounding the planet where its own magnetic field dominates. The magnetosphere causes galactic cosmic rays and solar particles to detour around the Earth.
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Conditions encountered in space have been found to affect men and women differently. For instance, weightlessness can lead to a problem regulating blood pressure known as orthostatic hypotension, which is more common among female astronauts. In the new study, although there were some females among the flight and non-flight astronauts, everyone who died from heart disease was male.
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The Florida State research is the first comparison of the health of astronauts with other astronauts, based on the type of their mission. The study looked at the long-term effects of simulated weightlessness and radiation on the blood vessels of mice.
The researchers found that, unlike weightlessness, the effect of radiation on blood vessels is sustained. These changes occur in the lining of the blood vessels and can initiate or accelerate coronary heart disease.
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NASA released a statement responding to the study's findings: "It is not possible to determine whether cosmic ray radiation affected the Apollo astronauts. Limitations of the study include the small number of astronauts in the Apollo program and lifestyle factors that cannot be quantified -- such as family genetics and diet."
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Heavily excerpted... read more at
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/heart-health/deep-space-radiation-caused-heart-problems-apollo-astronauts-n618116
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I haven't looked at the study, but these can be very difficult studies to do. One has to consider many confounding factors.
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On such a short mission?
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Something doesn't add up here...
HEALTH JUL 28 2016, 2:23 PM ET
Deep Space Radiation Caused Heart Problems For Apollo Astronauts
by SAMUEL SARMIENTO, M.D.
...
The number of deaths due to heart disease among the Apollo lunar astronauts is almost five times greater than that in non-flight astronauts, or astronauts who never flew missions in space, researchers from Florida State University found. Compared to astronauts who flew only in low Earth orbit (LEO), the heart risk among Apollo astronauts is four times higher. There were no differences between LEO and non-flight astronauts.
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So lemme get this straight:
Deaths due to heart disease among Apollo lunar astronauts = 5X among non-flight astronauts;
Deaths due to heart disease among Apollo lunar astronauts = 4X among low-Earth orbit (LEO) astronauts;
but
Deaths due to heart disease among LEO astronauts = deaths due to heart disease among non-flight astronauts?
Sounds like somebody flunked Algebra I...
:huh?:
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Considering only 24 astronauts have flown to the moon, that's a pretty small sample size for a scientific study.
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Considering only 24 astronauts have flown to the moon, that's a pretty small sample size for a scientific study.
Three of those have flown to the moon twice (Lovell, Cernan, Young). All three of them are still alive and are 82-88 years old.
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Considering only 24 astronauts have flown to the moon, that's a pretty small sample size for a scientific study.
Are you counting Apollo 8, which flew around the moon without landing?
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Are you counting Apollo 8, which flew around the moon without landing?
8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, & 17 but three astronauts flew twice.
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cosmic rays are truly nasty stuff. A lot are protons moving close to the speed of light, or a substantial fraction thereof.
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cosmic rays are truly nasty stuff. A lot are protons moving close to the speed of light, or a substantial fraction thereof.
Interesting stuff, no? Makes me wonder if sustained research out at one of the LaGrange points (L-2 0r L-1) might reveal a way to harness all those energetic particles and convert them into propulsion that won't kill the crew.
As for the long term effects, radiation has been stimulating evolutionary mutations for millions of years. When man spends enough time out of the Earth's magnetosphere he will likely evolve circulatory mutations that make these heart problems moot...as long as he stays out in space. Its entirely possible for man to eventually mutate a form that thrives in micro gravity.
:beer:
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Interesting stuff, no? Makes me wonder if sustained research out at one of the LaGrange points (L-2 0r L-1) might reveal a way to harness all those energetic particles and convert them into propulsion that won't kill the crew.
As for the long term effects, radiation has been stimulating evolutionary mutations for millions of years. When man spends enough time out of the Earth's magnetosphere he will likely evolve circulatory mutations that make these heart problems moot...as long as he stays out in space. Its entirely possible for man to eventually mutate a form that thrives in micro gravity.
:beer:
Indeed. :beer:
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There is one other thing worth noting:
Cardiac arrest is already the leading cause of death in humans overall when a cause can be traced. So if these people are dying from heart attacks at a higher rate, it would be fair to assume that they're NOT dying from various other causes.