posted 01-23-2020 09:01 AM            

I am aware that these astronauts were extremely fit men, but in the extreme conditions of space they may have developed some medical problems. I know some astronauts experienced sickness and vomited in the spacecraft but was there a need for any astronauts to take medication during a mission for any particular reason?

posted 01-23-2020 09:51 PM               

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
...Jim Irwin's heart issue

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posted 01-24-2020 02:51 AM            

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Frank Borman on Apollo 8 and Rusty Schweickart on Apollo 9 experienced severe bouts of space adaptation sickness.

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Correct me if I'm wrong Robert, but my understanding is that Borman and some other astronauts still insist it wasn't space adaptation syndrome. Since it wasn't fully investigated, I don't think anyone can say definitively either way.

posted 01-24-2020 05:52 AM               

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Originally posted by jemmy:
I am interested to hear of any injuries that occurred during the course of the Apollo missions.

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posted 01-24-2020 08:46 AM               

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Originally posted by oly:
...perhaps there is a connection between this discovery and Irwin's issue?

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Originally posted by David C:
...Borman and some other astronauts still insist it wasn't space adaptation syndrome.

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At the time (1968), there was little thought given to "Space Adaptation Syndrome", the name given to the malady that affects a third of all astronauts for the first day or so in weightlessness. The prevailing thought was that it was a 'cold' or 'virus' or other such malady that affected Frank Borman.

We might as well get it out right now; I got motion sick and puked. ... I got over it in a hurry and I think that it was clearly, although I didn't think so at the time because I had flown two weeks in Gemini without getting sick and I'd never been sick in airplane except when I was hung over. So, I don't really believe, I think it was the motion sickness.

posted 01-24-2020 09:03 AM               

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Originally posted by jemmy:
My question was injuries and medical assistance "during" the spaceflights.

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Astronaut Donn F. Eisele underwent surgical repair of his left shoulder due to a dislocation received during zero G flight training in 1965. The shoulder was reinjured during physical training at the Manned Spacecraft (Johnson Space) Center later the same year.

posted 01-24-2020 12:51 PM            

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
...but Haise fell ill in lunar orbit or once on the surface.

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posted 01-24-2020 12:59 PM               

Fred Haise developed a serious urinary tract infection from a microbe that hitched a ride in the spacecraft — the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The infection spread to his kidneys, causing intense pain and threatening to infect other parts of his body.

Pseudomonas is an opportunistic pathogen that has difficulty infecting healthy people. However, astronaut bodies are under a lot of stress. For example, microgravity changes the way fluids distribute in the body and also affects immune function. Astronauts are exposed to higher levels of radiation. And on top of that, on Apollo 13, Haise was faced with significant additional mental and physical stresses. Crammed into the Lunar Module after the Command Module lost power, he endured freezing temperatures and was dehydrated from water rationing, all while facing the very real possibility of not making it home.

Numerous factors could have increased Haise's susceptibility to infection, including potential changes in the behavior of the pathogen itself and how it interacted with Haise's own suite of microorganisms — his microbiome. A growing body of evidence suggests that some microbes behave differently in space than on Earth, and space travel alters the microbiome of astronauts in ways not yet completely understood. Although Haise survived and had no lasting effects, a longer flight may have had grim consequences.

posted 01-24-2020 06:07 PM               

Q. I know when you came back you had a urinary tract infection. Was that due to the cold?

A. I think it was a combination of being dehydrated -- we shorted ourselves somewhat on the water -- and getting tired, and the dampness.

Those combined, I think, are what got me. It was not a very exotic brand, I think it was a staph variety germ; they took samples before the spacecraft left, and they're always onboard.

Q. You were sick there for quite a while, though, weren't you?

A. It took me a total of about three weeks to get over the most of it, the problem being that the first week, just due to the fact of landing on the ship -- and the first sample was lost -- they didn't get to take the second sample until I arrived back here, which was three days after splashdown. So then they got the sample to run the culture and really define what this germ is -- that ate up a week. All this time they were giving me a general antibiotic, but it turns out the bug I had liked it and thrived off it. So it took them one week to really get the medicine I ought to be getting.

Q. You mean with these marvelous medical facilities they have aboard aircraft carriers they didn't diagnose the case properly?

A. No, it somehow got lost in the shuffle. I'm not sure if the sample in the processing got ruined or the data got lost. I don't know what happened, but anyway they had to go through a second culture process to really isolate it.

Q. I notice you didn't turn up in Washington for the hearing before the congressional committee.

A. Pretty much off and on for the first two weeks I was having chills and fever, quite a bit of burning when I urinated, and pretty much a weak feeling.

Q. Did you stay in the hospital all that time?

A. No, I was never in the hospital, I was taking two shots a day. Of course we had to go through the debriefing, and I went through right with the rest of the guys. Took the most part of one week.

Q. How much weight did you lose on the mission, do you remember?

A. Less than I lost when I got burned, I know that. I think it was something like six pounds. I lost the least of all. Just due to physical size, between Jim Lovell and Jack and I, I had less to lose. I was pretty much down to my minimum weight. I think Jim lost the most, and Jack was next.

Q. Jim lost about 10 pounds, I think.

A. Well, maybe Jack lost -- one of them lost about 14 pounds. I lost about six.

*6.5, according to Biomedical Findings on American Astronauts Participating in Space Missions, p. 8.

posted 01-24-2020 11:12 PM               

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
I don't know, but one question would be if the one-sixth gravity environment on the moon is different enough to rule out comparisons with a study of the effects of microgravity (Irwin developed his first symptoms while on the lunar surface).

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Thanks Robert, I thought that Irwin's condition was first noted after the LM was back in lunar orbit?

posted 01-25-2020 05:14 AM               

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Originally posted by jemmy:
...was there a need for any astronauts to take medication during a mission for any particular reason?

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This table from that publication summarizes the medical issues that occurred during the missions.