Radiation affected the health of astronauts went to the moon – Economy and Business online

the stage for future missions to Mars or asteroids near thickens. For the first time, a scientific study confirmed suspicions that radiation can seriously affect the health of astronauts on long missions.

The research, published Scientific Reports (the same group that publishes the journal Nature) , analyzed the mortality rate from cardiovascular disease, cancer or accidents in the US population aged 55 to 64, and compared with that of the NASA astronauts who died between 1964 and 2015.

the latter group was divided into three: those who were trained, but never participated in a mission; those who traveled to low orbits and the Apollo missions between 1968 and 1972, made the journey to the moon to orbit it or descend into it, which meant traveling into deep space.

The team of scientists, led by Michael Delp, University of Florida, discovered that of the seven astronauts of lunar missions deceased until early last year, three (43%) died from a heart attack or stroke, while two (29%) as a result of cancer.

in contrast, only 9% of their colleagues who stayed on Earth and 11% of those who made trips shorter distance died from cardiovascular diseases and more age than the Apollo program.

in the case of cancer, the relationship was more evenly, since 29% of the first group were affected by the disease and 31% of the second group.

Culpa cosmos

the key, researchers say, is that on his journey back and forth, the 24 astronauts who went to the moon were exposed to multiple sources of ionizing radiation in the form of cosmic rays and solar particles, both contained in high density in the Van Allen belt, located beyond the magnetic shield that protects the Earth from cosmic radiation.

These results are not only interesting for space medicine, but also for terrestrial highlights Claus Behn, a researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBM), Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile.

“radiation cosmic tissue damage produced by free radical production. These are derivatives of oxygen, by interacting with a-and organic molecule is a protein, nucleic acid or lipid-, destroy, which in turn is manifested in the form of toxic substances and, particularly, in an inflammatory process “says physiologist.

This is because any alteration that occurs in the body, either through germs, physical or agents burns, is therefore an inflammation, which is a cumbersome process says Behn-, but which tends to avoid the spreading damage. the problem is that when is a more or less chronic damage, inflammation also perpetuated and this implies a more fibrous tissue proliferation by scarring. but there are places such as blood vessels, that healing is highly undesirable because it produces atherosclerosis. “that usually happens with age, our way of life, but if there is additional damage, such as the impact of cosmic particles, it is logical that this whole process is accelerated because there is more swelling than usual, “he explains.

this increased inflammation causes arteriosclerosis earlier and all damage that this implies, such as bleeding, obstruction of vessels and, finally, accidents at the level of the heart and brain.

the action of free radicals can also damage the genetic information, causing mutations, and increase the chances of cancer.