See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/339089361

Challenges for space medicine.

Poster · February 2020

CITATIONS READS

0 776

3 authors, including:

Jhan Sebastian Saavedra Torres Luisa Fernanda Zúñiga Cerón

Universidad del Cauca - Universidad Javeriana Cali - Universidad del Cauca
206 PUBLICATIONS 72 CITATIONS 168 PUBLICATIONS 67 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

NEUROLOGY View project

UNICAUCA FISIOLOGÍA View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Jhan Sebastian Saavedra Torres on 07 February 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Credit: NASA/ human research
https://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/explore/
M.D Jhan Sebastián Saavedra-Torres =1
Universidad del Cauca, Faculty of Health Sciences,
M.D Luisa Fernanda Zúñiga-Cerón =2 Department of Internal Medicine, Corporación del
Ph.D María Virginia Pinzón Fernández =3 Laboratorio al Campo (DLC), Health Research Group
M.D. Nelson Adolfo López Garzón = 4 (GIS) - Popayán - Colombia.

Credit: NASA/ human research

The Human Body in Space
https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/bodyinspace
 Credit: NASA/ human research
https://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/explore/ Credit:
M.D Jhan Sebastián Saavedra-Torres =1
Universidad del Cauca, Faculty of Health Sciences,
M.D Luisa Fernanda Zúñiga-Cerón =2 Department of Internal Medicine, Corporación del
Ph.D María Virginia Pinzón Fernández =3
M.D. Nelson Adolfo López Garzón = 4
Laboratorio al Campo (DLC), Health Research Group
(GIS) - Popayán - Colombia. An overview of space medicine
https://academic.oup.com/bja/article/119/suppl_1/i143/4638468

CHALLENGES FOR SPACE MEDICINE.

Overview of space medicine.
Recommended Reading
Since April 1961, when Yuri Gagarin first orbited the earth about https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1609012
270 astronauts (predominantly males) have lived in space. More
than 90 percent of these astronauts were natives of the USA and
the ex-USSR. Space medicine has evolved considerably through
past U.S. missions. It has been proven that humans can live and
work in space for long durations and that humans are integral to

Credit: NASA/ human research

mission success. The space medicine program of the National The collective action of humans in achieving travel between
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) looks toward Earth and space has taught scientists and physicians about the
future long-duration missions. Its goal is to overcome the impact of microgravity on human health. Very quickly bone loss,
biomedical challenges associated with maintaining the safety, muscle atrophy, and radiation exposure were recognized as
health, and optimum performance of astronauts and cosmonauts. significant risks in space flight, and many steps have been taken
As space travel expands to include civilian populations in addition to counteract these effect
to trained astronauts, physicians and space medicine experts will
need to collaborate to assess and mitigate risks to participants Understanding and evaluating the physiological effects of
with preexisting medical conditions that may be exacerbated by radiation and gravity require not only experiments on Earth but
microgravity. also extensive research on the ISS with an adequate number of
animals and/or human subjects. Space travel has always been a
Observations of astronauts travelling on the Space Shuttle and unique exercise of combining the best of human potential to
Russian cosmonauts' long-term visits to the Mir space station conquer incredibly complex challenges.
indicate that time spent in 0g has serious effects on bone and
muscle physiology and the cardiovascular system. For instance, NASA offers several warnings for people who are preparing for
the return from 0g to 1g leads to an inability to maintain an space travel, based on what researchers know about the human
appropriate blood pressure when in an upright position— body in space. A lack of gravity doesn’t only cause bone and
orthostatic intolerance—and insufficient blood flow to the brain. muscle loss, but transitioning to different gravity fields can also
Astronauts returning from orbit therefore have to rest for several affect spatial orientation, head-eye and hand-eye coordination,
minutes, and the time needed to normalize their blood pressure balance and locomotion. It can even cause motion sickness.
increases with the time spent in 0g.
While astronauts are in space, their bodies adapt to the new
A human journey to Mars, at first glance, offers an inexhaustible environment in ways that are often pathologic. Bone
amount of complexities. To bring a mission to the Red Planet demineralization, cardiovascular dysfunction, and muscular
from fiction to fact, NASA’s Human Research Program has atrophy are a few of the many physiologic responses to the
organized hazards astronauts will encounter on a continual basis pathologic microgravity environment. Radiation exposure is
into five classifications. Radiation, Isolation and confinement, another major hazard for astronauts. All of the above issues are
Distance from Earth, Gravity (or lack thereof) and Hostile/closed exaggerated when considering a mission such as travelling to
environments. In space, just like on Earth, medicine is of ultimate Mars. While a great number of health challenges have been
importance, and health professionals play a key role in enabling identified in space travel, constant technological advances are
humanity to put its first footstep on the red planet. bringing humanity closer to its first interplanetary journey.
 Credit: NASA/ human research
https://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/explore/
M.D Jhan Sebastián Saavedra-Torres =1
M.D Luisa Fernanda Zúñiga-Cerón =2
Universidad del Cauca, Faculty of Health Sciences,
Department of Internal Medicine, Corporación del Recommended Reading
Ph.D María Virginia Pinzón Fernández =3 Laboratorio al Campo (DLC), Health Research Group
https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/research
M.D. Nelson Adolfo López Garzón = 4 (GIS) - Popayán - Colombia.

https://www.esa.int/About_Us/EAC/Space_Medicine

CHALLENGES FOR SPACE MEDICINE.

Recommended Reading
https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/mission-mars-healthcare-challenges-facing-nasa

One of the first things that astronauts complain about is nausea or So, how can we satisfy our curiosity about the Solar System and
vomiting, This effect of the lack of gravity on the sensitive inner ear beyond, and continue to investigate the nearest planets in more
affects balance, co-ordination and spatial orientation. A lot of the detail? There are three possible solutions. The first, and most
body’s systems depend upon gravity to keep them conditioned, in obvious, is to use unmanned spacecraft to investigate the planets'
some experiments with rats, they’ve seen up to a third of muscle surface and to land, for example, on Mars or Europa—one of
from particular muscle groups being lost within seven to 10 days of Jupiter's moons—and return samples to Earth. This might very well
flight – that’s a huge, huge loss. be done within the next 10 years.

This also includes deterioration of heart muscle. And while it is not a While most astronaut training occurs within agencies, there are
problem when you are floating around in the International Space specific companies and institutions that work with both military and
Station (ISS), it’s a mission-critical issue if you plan to land on Mars civilian pilots and space travelers to get them ready for space.
and your crew arrives, 200 million kilometres from home, unable to
walk. Space continues to fascinate and excite humankind. But the costs of
space exploration are incredibly high, making it difficult for NASA to
There is growing evidence that spaceflight has a detrimental effect secure funding as budget restraint dominates government
on the immune system. A NASA study found that the white blood discussions. As noted by Time, however, the benefits are also
cells of fruit flies flown in orbit were less effective at engulfing substantial; exploration “is in effect a cultural conversation on the
invading microorganisms and fighting infection than those of nature and meaning of human life.”
genetically identical flies on the ground.
https://www.esa.int/
Credit:
The main danger for human travellers is the presence of the
aforementioned the presence of high-energy, ionizing cosmic ray
Overview of space medicine. This diagram is
(HZE) , because of the ionizing effect that they exert on atoms or inspired by the human factors SHELL model,
molecules. Although they do not reach the Earth's surface because which was first proposed by Edwards in 1972
and subsequently modified by Hawkins in
they are either absorbed by the atmosphere or deflected by Earth's 1975. The SHELL abbreviation stands for:
magnetic field, there are already some experimental data on the Software (e.g. standard operating
procedures), Hardware (e.g. equipment,
cancer-inducing properties of electrons, neutrons and protons in systems, vehicles), Environment, Liveware
(individual) and Liveware (other people). The
cosmic rays and other potential deleterious effects on biological SHELL model highlights the importance of
material from numerous Earth-based experiments on laboratory interfaces and interactions (along with the
inherent variability in each of these) between
animals. In addition, studies of the effects of the atomic bombs different components of a manned system.
https://academic.oup.com/bja/article/119/suppl_1/i143/4638468
dropped on Japan in 1945 pro-vided further data about the health

Credit: NASA/
dangers of radiation and high-energy nuclei.
Professional astronaut medical standards
Weightlessness wrecks the body: It makes certain immune cells Standards are stricter for astronauts than for professional aviators. Exclusions are for
unable to do their jobs, and red blood cells explode. It gives you kidney conditions that; i) may cause acute incapacitation (e.g. coronary artery disease, renal
stones and makes your heart lazy. Astronauts on the ISS exercise to stones, epilepsy), ii) may interact with the space environment or life support systems (e.g.
combat muscle wasting and bone loss, but they still lose bone mass in bullous lung disease or asthma; incompatible with sub-aqua diving or spacewalks), and
space, and those zero-g spin cycles don’t help the other problems. iii) are incompatible with a long duration deep space mission (e.g. may need to exclude
Artificial gravity would fix all that. stable chronic conditions requiring regular medication).
View publication stats