Humans are not well equipped for space and while many astronauts have spent months up in the International Space Station, space is no good for their bodies. Now a new study has found it also makes the hearts of astronauts grow weaker as well.
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00:00Humans are not well equipped for space and while many astronauts have spent
00:07months up in the International Space Station, it's really not good for their
00:10bodies. Researchers have long noted the loss of red blood cells and bone
00:14density among other issues after a prolonged period in orbit. Now a new
00:19study has found it also makes the hearts of astronauts grow weaker as well.
00:23Researchers looked at bioengineered heart tissue that was sent to the ISS
00:26for 30 days. The samples were then placed inside a bioengineered chip, one
00:30that served as a human body analog. Upon return to Earth, the data was analyzed,
00:35finding that the heart tissue underwent changes that appeared to mirror those
00:38that were akin to aging. Specifically, they say that microgravity seems to
00:42deteriorate the heart's ability to maintain a rhythmic beat. On Earth, hearts
00:46have around a second of downtime between beats. In space, researchers found this
00:50tissues downtime was nearly five times as long, though it returned to normal
00:54once the samples were returned to Earth. They add this is a similar symptom to
00:57heart disease, with the researchers now testing new drug therapies aboard the
01:01ISS in the hopes of helping future spacefarers.