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Gene Expression Changes in Heart Cells: A New Threat to Astronaut Health?
Genetic expression can change in blood vessels under low gravity. Should astronauts be worried?
The last thing one wants to hear about is someone we care about having a heart attack. In my clinical care, I have seen a family's immense hardship as their loved one recovers from a heart attack or another vascular event. I have sat with the tragedy of patients we could not bring back when it happened in the hospital, family members powerless outside the room, the news ultimately shattering their hearts alongside ours.
As we move closer to space travel becoming more feasible for the average person (hopefully in the coming decades), physicians will have to face the reality of astronauts experiencing health problems beyond the borders of a hospital, where there is less help available. While astronauts are selected to be in good health and unlikely to develop severe health complications while traveling, one will eventually suffer an adverse event. Previously healthy athletes’ hearts have been known to stop during exercise on rare occasions, possibly due to undiagnosed heart defects, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Fortunately, it is a possibility that NASA considers.
