Astronauts developed bloodstream issues in space

For those who dare to explore the universe, the latest dangers seem to be coming from inner space. New research looking into the effects of long-term space voyages discovered a troubling issue: In some astronauts blood was just lying stagnant in a jugular vein, and in others it could flow backward.

“Sometimes it was sloshing back and forth a bit, but there was no net-forward movement,” Karina Marshall-Goebel, a senior scientist at NASA and the author of the recently published study, told the Atlantic.

The discovery came after a blood clot was found in an astronaut who was conducting a ultrasound body scan aboard the International Space Station. No clot was found in a preflight scan. “We were not expecting this. This has never been reported before,” Marshall-Goebel said of the clot.

The scans were part of a study of one of space travel’s side effects: vision changes and swollen optic nerves. The suspected cause was that fluids—while unimpeded by gravity—were floating to the head and increasing pressure in the skull.

As part of the study, researchers paid special attention to a jugular vein on the neck’s left side; tests before takeoff were normal. But inflight tests showed blood flow had stalled in five of 11 astronauts, while in two the blood was moving backward.

To treat the issue, the astronauts donned special suits Russian cosmonauts use prior to returning to earth. The suits use suction to draw fluid to the lower body. It worked for some of the space travelers, but not all.

The good news? The issue disappeared for nearly all of them after returning to Earth. And no one had any negative clinical outcomes.
 
Now NASA is working on how to counter the issue while astronauts are in space by preparing an ultrasound protocol and medical kits outfitted for applicable treatments.