Implications For Space Travel On Human Health
The coming of prolonged space exploration brings humans nearer to knowing the implications of living beyond Earth. However, a significant concern remains; how does spaceflight impact human health, and could longer journeys be viable due to the physiological problems it imposes? Recent studies into the biomarkers of aging and frailty altered by spaceflight presents critical insights. An extensive study published as an NASA’s Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) package in Nature underscores how space travel facilitates aging-associated symptoms in astronauts (Keller, 2024). The report explored mitochondrial dysfunction, genomic instability, and heightened inflammation, all features of aging, plus their correlation with muscle and frailty degeneration. This study highlights the parallels between the impacts of spaceflight and terrestrial aging, posing unique problems to the feasibility of extended space missions.
In particular, spaceflight induces major changes in gene expression patterns, especially those linked to muscle and frailty loss. The findings show that astronauts have conditions akin to frailty, a state often related to aging populations on Earth. Major changes involve heightened inflammation and muscle wasting, which are observed in both animal and human models exposed to the space surrounding (Keller, 2024). For example, mice subjected to spaceflight demonstrated muscle loss plus other frailty-like conditions while offering a model to understand these phenomena in humans. The effects and implications are many. First, space-induced frailty can hinder the physical abilities of astronauts and impairs mission-critical tasks in long-duration flights. Also, the parallels between spaceflight and the aging process might extend to involve other degenerative conditions and raise questions about the long viability of human presence in space without efficient countermeasures.
Creating a Frailty Index
The research findings have instigated a call for the establishment of a “frailty index,” a tool/solution to monitor frailty-associated health risks in astronauts in missions. By tracking these biomarkers, space agencies can expect health challenges and execute early interventions. Such tools will benefit space travelers and offer invaluable insights for Earth’s aging populations. Also, the potential for cross-disciplinary applications highlights the wider effect of this study. To alleviate the risks related to aging and frailty in space, countermeasures need to be established. These can involve pharmacological interventions, improved exercise regimens, or genetic therapies intended to minimize inflammation and preserve muscle mass. Addressing these problems is crucial to ensuring the success of longer missions, like those envisioned for Mars exploration. Lastly, the research exemplifies the strength of open science. Conducted under NASA’s OSDR (Open Science Data Repository), it leveraged rigorous data standards and partnership efforts within the AWGs (Analysis Working Groups). This transparent strategy hastened discovery and laid the background for future research/study into the biological effects of space travel.
Reference
Keller, E. (2024). Aging and Fragility Biomarkers are Altered by Spaceflight. NASA. Available at- https://www.nasa.gov/general/aging-and-fragility-biomarkers-are-altered-by-spaceflight/ (Assessed: 18 Nov 2024)
