This may not pose any serious threat in the weightlessness environment of outer space. But on re-entry into Earth’s gravitional environment returnees would experience blood pressure, breathlessness and many other physiological issues
To be a super-fit space traveller, you’ve got to be a first-class ‘red-blooded’ person and that means literally. Recent research findings show that prolonged stay or travel in space could lead to severe anaemia as a result of depletion in the volume of oxygen-rich red blood cells in the human body, a report in The Peninsula, Qatar, says.
This may not pose any serious threat in the weightlessness environment of outer space. But on re-entry into Earth’s gravitional environment returnees would experience blood pressure, breathlessness and many other physiological issues.
A lower count of red blood cells means lower levels of oxygen in the body. And takes some time to get blood count levels back to normal
The next “giant leap” for humans may be a trip to Mars, but having enough oxygen-carrying red blood cells for the journey might present a challenge, new research suggests.
Even space tourists lining up for short trips might have to stay home if they are at risk for anemia, or red blood cell deficiency, researchers say.
Astronauts are known to experience “space anemia” but so far it was thought to be temporary. One NASA study called it “a 15-day ailment.”
Doctors attribute this to destruction of red blood cells, or hemolysis, resulting from fluid shifts as astronauts’ bodies accommodated to weightlessness and again as they re-accommodated to gravity.
In fact, anemia is “a primary effect of going to space,” said Dr. Guy Trudel of the University of Ottawa, who was heading a study of 14 astronauts funded by the Canadian Space Agency. “As long as you are in space, you are destroying more blood cells than you are making.”
Normally, the body destroys and replaces nearly 2 million red blood cells per second. Trudel’s team found astronauts’ bodies destroyed 3 million red blood cells per second during their six-month missions.
“We thought we knew about space anemia, and we did not,” Trudel said.
The astronauts generated extra red cells to compensate for the destroyed ones. But, Trudel wonders how long can the body constantly produce 50% more red cells? A roundtrip mission to Mars would take about two years, NASA estimated.
“If you are on your way to Mars and … you can’t keep up” with the need to produce all those extra red blood cells, “you could be in serious trouble,” Trudel said.
Fewer red blood cells in space is not a problem when your body is weightless, he adds. But after landing on Earth, and potentially on other planets, anemia could affect astronauts’ energy, endurance and strength.
Trudell’s team reported on Friday, Jan 14, in Nature Medicine, that a .year after returning to Earth, the astronauts’ red blood cells had not completely returned to pre-flight levels, Trudel also studies the effects of immobility on patients who are bedridden for weeks or months.
In fact, anemia is “a primary effect of going to space,” said Dr. Guy Trudel of the University of Ottawa, who led a study of 14 astronauts funded by the Canadian Space Agency. “As long as you are in space, you are destroying more blood cells” than you are making.”
The new findings are similar what he sees in his patients, he said, which suggests that what happens in space may also be happening in immobile patients.
“A solution to one could also apply to the other,” he said. Trudel’s team is studying ways to solve the problem.
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