The data was gathered by simulating a zero-gravity environment in lab rats for four weeks at a time. Their legs were elevated at a 30-degree angle, and some were exposed to varying amounts of a cosmic radiation simulation.
A year later, the rats who experienced the zero-g environment had low blood levels of chemicals whose absence is associated with erectile dysfunction, including antioxidants, exhibiting what is called oxidative stress. Endothelial dysfunction, a condition in which the blood vessels narrow, has also been linked to the condition.
“[T]his work indicates that sexual health should be closely monitored in astronauts upon their return to Earth,” study co-author Dr. Justin D. La Favor of Florida State University said in a statement.
“While the negative impacts of galactic cosmic radiation were long-lasting, functional improvements induced by acutely targeting the redox and nitric oxide pathways in the tissues suggest that the erectile dysfunction may be treatable.”
14 November 2023, 04:37 GMT
Humans have been spending progressively longer periods in space since the first astronauts and cosmonauts were launched into orbit in the 1960s.
Chinese taikonauts deploy to the Tiangong space station on missions lasting up to six months at a time, and American astronaut Frank Rubio returned in August from a 371-day stint aboard the International Space Station. However, the record for longest continuous time in space was set by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov in 1994 and 1995, when he spent 437 days aboard the Mir space station.
Other complications observed in astronauts after returning to Earth’s gravity from space have included loss of bone mass and muscle deterioration and harm to their eyesight resulting from distortions in the structure of their eyes.
Their work was published in the FASEB Journal on Wednesday.