Getting sick in space is serious business, and that’s why space agencies such as NASA
go to great lengths to ensure it doesn’t happen.
Microgravity weakens an astronaut’s immune system, and so as well as undergoing rigorous
physical exams, on the run-up to launch day those about to embark on the journey will
have limited contact with other people.
On top of that, the astronauts will then be quarantined and have even less contact with
others.
In spite of all this, astronauts have fallen ill before.
We might give the example of Apollo 7’s Wally Schirra, who it’s said came down with
a cold right in the middle of a mission.
So yes, in spite of their great health and all those tests, astronauts can get sick.
Perhaps the worst nightmare was when Apollo 13's Fred Haise got a kidney infection that
was reportedly very painful.
That really did merit the phrase, “Houston, we have a problem.”
But what’s more common and not surprising is that it’s very possible to get motion
sickness up there.
This is something astronauts can train for, but it’s sometimes just unavoidable.
Microgravity messes with the fluids in the body, and this can cause what’s called space
adaptation syndrome (SAS).
One report we found stated that 67 to 75 percent of astronauts will get this.
Believe it or not, we are also told astronauts have special barf bags that come with face
wipes and a zip lock.
Other than that, according to NASA most astronauts don’t suffer too much up there besides the
occasional bump and scrape from moving around in such a cramped environment.
That is common, but there have been a few incidences of arrhythmia occurring in astronauts,
as well as things like gastrointestinal problems, conjunctivitis, hemorrhoids, toothache and
we found one case of space constipation.
You can also find instances when astronauts suffered mild psychiatric problems.
NASA has said that there have been no “behavioral emergencies” on its space missions, although
you can find stories about astronauts suffering from mild mental health problems up there
and after coming back down to Earth.
To this day there has only been one space evacuation due to serious illness, and that
was in 1986 when a Soviet astronaut named Vladimir Vasyutin came down with a prostate
infection.
Unfortunately for him, the nearest planet was six hours away.
Other astronauts have been brought back due to illness, but it wasn’t serious enough
to warrant an immediate evacuation.
In case you’re wondering, you can’t do surgical procedures in zero-gravity.
Yep, that would cause a huge mess when blood or other bodily fluids just started leaving
the wound and painting the cabin.
In an interview with Mental Floss, NASA outlined the five biggest hazards that can happen in
space, besides of course malfunction and destruction of spacecraft.
NASA said they were, “space radiation, isolation and confinement, distance from Earth, gravity
fields (or lack thereof), and hostile/closed environments.”
There was no mention of herpes.
But as we write this there are all kinds of headlines in the media telling us that astronauts
are under attack.
These are some of those headlines: CNN: “Spaceflight is activating herpes in
astronauts.”
New York Post: “NASA astronauts are under attack in space — by herpes.”
Science Alert: “There's Something About Space That's Triggering Herpes in Astronauts.”
So, what exactly is going on?
Well, first of all you have to realize that the herpes virus is very common.
In fact, the National Center for Health Statistics of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
tells us that much of the population of the United States carries the virus.
It tested people of certain age groups for two strains of the virus, the one that often
gives you cold sores on the mouth, called herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), and the
one that affects the genitals, called herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2).
Almost 50 percent of people aged 14 to 49 had the first type and 12 percent had the
second type.
Once you’ve been infected, you are infected forever.
Herpes is like a tenant that refuses to move out, but that doesn’t mean that tenant will
be causing problems every day.
Herpes lies dormant, but it can flare up from time to time.
When that happens you might get sores, and those sores might itch and cause blisters.
That’s when the tenant becomes a real nuisance.
It’s not surprising then that quite a few astronauts will be taking dormant herpes into
space with them.
But what’s been discovered of late is that for some reason this dormant herpes is becoming
triggered in space.
NASA says the virus is being reactivated in more than half of astronauts when travelling
on the Space Shuttle and staying at the International Space station.
“During spaceflight there is a rise in secretion of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline,
which are known to suppress the immune system,” said a researcher at Johnson Space Center.
So, what’s happening is with a weak immune system that once quiet tenant in the body
starts making a lot of noise, and that means some astronauts will start seeing cold sores
and perhaps fewer might start having some itchiness in hard to reach places.
In a paper published by Frontiers in Microbiology, it was written that space flight is not easy
on the body.
That’s why only the best are chosen for the ordeal.
But even those uber-fit folks can’t always cope internally.
“NASA astronauts endure weeks or even months exposed to microgravity and cosmic radiation
- not to mention the extreme G forces of take-off and re-entry,” said the paper.
Then they’ve got separation from the world to deal with, confinement in small spaces
and the fact it is really hard to sleep.
You can find articles about how astronauts often rely on sleeping pills.
Space is no walk in the park, and many astronauts also use non-medication therapy to get a good
night’s sleep.
You’ve got a very demanding job, sometimes with lots of stress, and then if you are on
the space station you’ve got 16 sunrises and sunsets every day.
You should also look at their sleeping quarters, which don’t exactly look conducive to getting
a good eight hours full of wonderful dreams.
You get the picture, those guys are often run down and their bodies are not in top form
and this can bring back that tetchy tenant.
The good news is that even though the virus was being reactivated, so far not too many
astronauts have had bad breakouts on the skin.
Doctors found that herpes was reactivated by looking at saliva and urine samples, but
reactivation doesn’t necessarily mean blistered lips or crusty barnacles.
You can have no symptoms.
But there is a problem, and that is what scientists called the “viral shredding” – the herpes
coming out in urine or saliva – got worse the longer the astronauts were away.
What the implication here of course is that it might get a lot worse on longer journeys.
“While only a small proportion develop symptoms, virus reactivation rates increase with spaceflight
duration and could present a significant health risk on missions to Mars and beyond,” said
the paper.
How ironic it would be if people left a broken planet Earth and headed to Mars to start a
new colony but on the way became immune system compromised.
A bout of blisters can be dealt with, but researchers are taking seriously the affect
space travel has on the body’s basic defense system.
We all know the phrase, stress is a killer, and that’s why we often get sick with stress.
You might get stress sores, and that’s herpes letting you know he’s still your tenant.
So, what space agencies want to do now is try to make space travel less stressful.
Other research has shown that when an astronaut’s immune system is weak that means other nasty
cells, such as cancer cells, might proliferate.
That’s not certain, but it’s something to be concerned about.
So, beating stress is a big, big deal.
The question everyone is asking is this, “How do we prevent the immune system from declining
during space travel?”
That’s the question we’ll leave you with.
Tell us your answer in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out our other video Why Do Astronauts Experience Space Puberty.
Thanks for watching, and as always, don’t forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time.