posted 12-25-2013 04:20 AM               

Eyesight tends to degrade, sometimes markedly (no one's exactly sure why yet?)

— From Chris Hadfield's "An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth"

posted 12-25-2013 05:29 AM               

Previous research, published in the October 2011 issue of Ophthalmology, identified a possible link between the reported vision changes and increased intracranial pressure caused by shifts in bodily fluids from the lower extremities to the upper part if the body, due to microgravity.

posted 01-06-2014 10:34 AM               

The newly released Institute of Medicine report, Review of NASA's Human Research Program Evidence Books: A Letter Report, examines NASA's plans to assemble the available evidence on human health risks of spaceflight and to move forward in identifying and addressing gaps in research. The committee provided recommendations to strengthen the content, composition, and dissemination of the evidence books. Opportunities to further improve future versions of the evidence books are discussed so that these documents can serve as a continuously updated knowledge base of evidence regarding risks to human health associated with spaceflight, particularly spaceflight beyond low Earth orbit and of long duration.

posted 01-06-2014 12:16 PM               

1. At least 15 astronauts have noted visual impairment [some persisting after return from space], with some connection to optic cup swelling and choroidal folds in the retina
   
2. Too early/insufficient data to decide the cause of these issues [and the report notes other causes than possible intracranial pressure changes must still be analyzed]

posted 01-28-2014 12:02 PM               

The human body did not evolve to live in space. And how that alien environment changes the body is not a simple problem, nor is it easily solved.

Some problems, like the brittling of bone, may have been overcome already. Others have been identified — for example, astronauts have trouble eating and sleeping enough — and NASA is working to understand and solve them.

Then there are the health problems that still elude doctors more than 50 years after the first spaceflight. In a finding just five years ago, the eyeballs of at least some astronauts became somewhat squashed.

posted 04-02-2014 03:53 PM               

Since its inception, the U.S. human spaceflight program has grown from launching a single man into orbit to an ongoing space presence involving numerous crewmembers. As the U.S. space program evolves, propelled in part by increasing international and commercial collaborations, long duration or exploration spaceflights - such as extended stays on the International Space Station or missions to Mars - become more realistic. These types of missions will likely expose crews to levels of known risk that are beyond those allowed by current health standards, as well as to a range of risks that are poorly characterized, uncertain, and perhaps unforeseeable. As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Congress discuss the next generation of NASA's missions and the U.S. role in international space efforts, it is important to understand the ethical factors that drive decision making about health standards and mission design for NASA activities.

NASA asked the Institute of Medicine to outline the ethics principles and practices that should guide the agency's decision making for future long duration or exploration missions that fail to meet existing health standards. Health Standards for Long Duration and Exploration Spaceflight identifies an ethics framework, which builds on the work of NASA and others, and presents a set of recommendations for ethically assessing and responding to the challenges associated with health standards for long duration and exploration spaceflight.As technologies improve and longer and more distant spaceflight becomes feasible, NASA and its international and commercial partners will continue to face complex decisions about risk acceptability. This report provides a roadmap for ethically assessing and responding to the challenges associated with NASA's health standards for long duration and exploration missions. Establishing and maintaining a firmly grounded ethics framework for this inherently risky activity is essential to guide NASA's decisions today and to create a strong foundation for decisions about future challenges and opportunities.