====== Spaceflight anemia ======

>__Anemia in astronauts has been noted since the first space missions, but the mechanisms contributing to anemia in space flight have remained unclear."__\\ \\ Source : [[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01637-7|Nature Medicine volume 28, pages 59–62 (2022)]]{{:oa_padlock_grn.png?16}}

Anomalies in the amount of hemoglobin degradation in astronauts (around 12% higher than normal) was first discovered in the 1980s. The degradation leads to anemia, and tends to take hold in the first 10 days or so of micro-gravity spaceflight. After-effects appear to be semi-permanent in some cases.

>One year after landing, erythrocytic effects persisted, including increased levels of hemolysis, reticulocytosis and hemoglobin. These findings suggest that the destruction of red blood cells, termed hemolysis, is a primary effect of microgravity in space flight and support the hypothesis that the anemia associated with space flight is a hemolytic condition that should be considered in the screening and monitoring of both astronauts and space tourists."\\ \\ [ Source as above ]

Despite many decades of research, there is currently no solid agreement on exactly what causes the effects.

Space flights are now known to lead to a wide range of potentially serious health challenges, including loss in bone density and muscle mass, spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS), perturbed immune function, and spaceflight anemia. For full technical details, see the 2024 [[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07639-y_reference.pdf|Space Omics and Medical Atlas.]]{{:oa_padlock_grn.png?16}}

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Also see: \\  [[content:medicine:diseases:a-f:apollo_syndrome]] \\ [[content:life_sciences:human_body:microgravity_immune_suppression]] \\  [[content:medicine:diseases:r-z:sanos]] \\