Now, we all know that we don’t have like hundreds of people going to space and thus if any kind of study is performed it is only done on the handful ones. Space flight and its effects on human body has been researched for quite a few decades now and there are results to prove that space flight does affect the human body in many ways than one. These changes occur due to weightlessness in zero gravitation and include changes around immune system, muscle tone, metabolism and temperature to name a few. Though, study is in progress, the exact reasons behind these changes is yet to be determined.
However, this question does have an answer and body proteins also called the body’s building blocks may be able to provide a satisfying one. Researchers at the Russian and Canadian centres have found out that trips to the space or space flights result in lowering the concentration levels of certain body proteins. The study stated when experiencing weightlessness in space the immune system acts just the way it does when its infected and switches on its every possible defense mechanism.
The Testing
Scientists came to this outcome on the basis of their study which involves the three blood-plasma samples of three Russian cosmonauts prior and post the long missions to the international space station. The samples were taking across a prolonged span which included the first before the space travel, the second immediately after the space travel and the third a week after the cosmonauts returned. Further, these samples were studied through spectroscopy using a mass spectrometer for 125 different proteins in the blood plazma. 19 of them did show different levels of concentrations before and post one week of the space travel. Most of them did show a drop in concentrations of proteins immediately after the return from space but their levels gained normalcy within seven days period. Another other study found that the concentrations either decreased or increased post flight while before the flight they were similar to the others. The bodily changes were a reflection of the gravitational effect of the earth post the spaceflight.
As per researchers weightlessness is a completely new term for human kind as they have not faced it all through their evolutionary stages as a result its not easy to predict the responses.
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