MRIs before and after space missions reveal that astronauts» brains compress and
expand during spaceflight, according to a University of Michigan study.
The study, believed to be the first to examine structural changes that take place in astronauts»
brains during spaceflight, found that the volume of gray matter increased or decreased, and the extent of the alteration depended on the length of time spent in space.
The authors suggest that combining pharmacological data from spaceflights with equivalent ground - based studies investigating menstrual suppression might provide the evidence required to trial
LARCs during spaceflight.
Despite these immune system changes, it has yet to be determined whether these alterations increase crew risk for medical
issues during spaceflight.
-- Receipt of $ 1.2 million from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute as part of an initiative to support human
health during spaceflight.
This human microbiome includes opportunistic pathogens, microbes that do not normally cause disease in a healthy person but can provoke an infection when the person's immune system is suppressed, a concern known to
occur during spaceflight.
During spaceflights, and in future habitats on the Moon or Mars, humans are or will be exposed to a condition of «microgravity,» in other words to a gravitational field much smaller compared to that present on Earth.
During spaceflight, astronauts lose bone mineral density, but it is not clear exactly what causes this loss.