Study Reveals Astronauts Are Vulnerable to Erection Problems

CNN Indonesia

Friday, 24 Nov 2023 11:53 IWST

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —

A study revealed that para astronaut vulnerable to experience erectile dysfunction after returning from space travel. Check out the research.

This is stated in a study that is claimed to be the first study to determine the impact of galactic radiation and weightlessness on men’s sexual health.

NASA-funded researchers found that galactic cosmic rays and to a lesser extent microgravity can damage the function of erectile tissue, with detrimental effects potentially lasting for decades.

In the report, the researchers expressed their concerns regarding “New health risks to consider in space exploration.”

They called for astronauts’ sexual health to be closely monitored upon their return from future space missions, noting that certain antioxidants may help counter adverse effects by blocking harmful biological processes.

“Despite the long-lasting negative impacts of galactic cosmic radiation, the functional improvements caused by acutely targeting redox and nitric oxide pathways in tissues suggest that erectile dysfunction may be treatable,” said Dr Justin La Favor, an expert in neurovascular dysfunction at Florida State University and co-author senior in this research.

Collect The Guardianthe warning comes amid a renewed focus on space missions, as NASA and other major space agencies prepare for long-term expeditions to the Moon and more ambitious trips to Mars.

NASA’s Artemis program aims to send astronauts to the moon as early as next year and a manned mission to Mars is tentatively scheduled for 2040 at the earliest.

Since the dawn of the space age, scientists have explored the impact of weightlessness and cosmic radiation on human physiology. This work has led to the implementation of preventative measures, including special exercise programs on the International Space Station (ISS) to protect astronauts from bone and muscle loss.

But according to La Favor and his colleagues at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, the impact of spaceflight on erectile dysfunction has not been explored.

“Although erectile dysfunction affects more than half of men over 40 years of age and is an important factor in life satisfaction, the impact of space travel on erectile function remains unclear,” they wrote in the journal published in Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB).

Earth is strongly protected from cosmic radiation by the planet’s magnetic field and its large atmosphere, but on the moon and Mars and in space in between there is no effective barrier.

Inside the ISS, the crew is protected by shields and the earth’s magnetic field, yet in one week they still receive as much radiation as a person on earth receives in a year.

Without humans present, the researchers turned to mice to explore the impact of spaceflight on male physiology.

In a series of experiments, dozens of mice were suspended by harnesses at a 30-degree angle and exposed to simulated galactic cosmic rays at NASA’s Space Radiation Laboratory in New York.

Analysis of mouse tissue one year later revealed that even low exposure to galactic cosmic rays increased oxidative stress in the animals. This disrupts the function of the arteries that supply blood to the penis and erectile tissue. The weight reduction also has an impact but not as significant.

“Collectively, these results suggest that the neurovascular function of erectile tissue may be impaired throughout the remaining sexual health of astronauts after returning to Earth from prolonged space exploration,” the authors wrote.

(rfi/dmi)