Apr 30, 17 / Gem 08, 01 17:50 UTC

Space Medicine and Physiology  

Let's talk about the possible health issues of Asgardian in Space environment.

May 18, 17 / Gem 26, 01 07:36 UTC

This is actually the questiion i sometimes ask myself. I introduce myself: I'm Nicola, a med student born in Sardinia, Italy. I'd love to study what happens when someone actyally lives in space, but it seems really dangerous for the health of a person. Just Think about your bones: no gravity will make them weaker, increasing osteoporosis (a swimmer has weaker bones than a volleyball player for the same law: mechanical stress=stronger bones). Also solar radiation can be a problem for our DNA. I'd like to go deep in this topic, in my opinion we should open a main topic about this, "Medicine and Physiology in Space". I'll write more when i get more time to spend in a well made-research.

P.S.
I'm sorry for my bad english.

May 18, 17 / Gem 26, 01 11:38 UTC

Ensifer hit the two major known issues with long-term space inhabitance: radiation and bone density.

The density problem can be alleviated by 'stressing the bones' through centrifugal force, keeping our bodies at a state where they feel a gravity equivalency equal to, or even slightly greater than, what we feel here on Earth. Having the place where we 'work' at an Earth-equivalent gravity but where we sleep/rest at a slightly higher gravity should help with the bone density.

The radiation problem will be more predominant the further the station is from the protection of the Earth. ISS is in low Earth orbit, so it gets a lot of protection from the Earth from various sources of radiation. We would need to have shielding for the entire station that is the equivalent of several miles of atmosphere, which is one of the problems I've been working on in my station design. At the moment, using water as a radiation shield seems to be one of the best options I have available in my design.

There are also psychological issues to deal with, but as this is medicine and physiology I shall refrain from going into them.

AYK

May 18, 17 / Gem 26, 01 15:25 UTC

Thank you Phicksur i was just wondering: we totally forget about CVS*, living in space at 0g can cause problems even in this system, It should even modify the dimension of your heart! It may seem strange but your heart can grow and become more big, physiologically if you practice sport correcly, pathologically if you suffer from hypertention or you practice body building. 

About the psicologically aspect, i'd like to ask Phicksur: Why is this the wrong topic? According to W.H.O.** : "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." So, even Psicologically aspect of illnes should be considered medicine... But this is in the border of the off-topic.


*CVS=in case someone doesn't know is Cardio-Vascular-System
**WHO=World Health Organization

Dec 9, 17 / Cap 07, 01 04:25 UTC

One way to combat Space radiation would be teaching the body how to absorb light more efficiently (by way of light therapy). Artificial gravity simulators (by way of properly applied RF frequency) could combat Zero Gravity. Zero gravity becomes beneficial when training at higher levels of gravity, allowing the body to fully relax. 

Dec 22, 17 / Cap 20, 01 08:08 UTC

Hello fellow Asgardians! First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Cody and I'm currently a med student in the US while working as an Emergency Medical Technician. I am also extremely interested in the topics that have been introduced here thus far. I'm glad to see that Asgardia already has a number of citizens with advanced knowledge and interest in the subject of space medicine and physiology. I believe this is an area in which Asgardian research, start-ups, etc can provide substantial data and improvements in both our general knowledge of the subject as well technological/engineering advancements. This is partially due to the fact that space medicine is a relatively newly developing medical practice, and one that Asgardia could establish itself as a leader in due to our nation's unique concepts, goals, and ideas. Decades of scientific research conducted by industry leading organizations such as NASA has shown numerous factors that negatively impact the human body when subjected to the environment of space. Ensifer and AYK have already mentioned many of the main correlations such as decreasing bone density with long-term weightlessness exposure. Another area of discussion I am interested in relates to another adverse side-effect experienced by approximately 45% of all people who have flown in space, that is space sickness, space adaptation syndrome or SAS. Space sickness is caused by dramatic changes in g-forces and has symptoms similar to those seen in motion sickness, such as disruptions in our balance and spatial orientation. The obvious solution to this particular effect on the human body would be to develop some form of treatments that can be administered in order to correct such balance disorders (vomiting into a space suit could actually be fatal). This is a particular area of research I think would be extremely beneficial to investigate further, due to the high percentage of individuals that journey into space that experience it's affects.