How prolonged weightlessness affects men and women

NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute have published a large-scale work that describes in detail the various effects of long-term space flights on the organisms of a man and a woman. The effects on the cardiovascular and immune systems, sensory-motor functions, muscles and skeleton, reproductive system and behavioral functions are considered. Under the cut are some excerpts from numerous articles included in the study.

• Orthostatic intolerance, or the inability to stand without losing consciousness for long periods, is more common among women astronauts after landing. One possible reason: reduced compliance of the blood vessels of the legs.
• Women lose blood plasma more strongly during space flight. Also, the female stress response includes an increase in heart rate, while in men there is an increase in vascular resistance. However, these are forecast data, they need to be confirmed during the course of these flights.
• Astronauts have visual impairment due to increased intracranial pressure. Changes vary widely, from minor to clinical. In one way or another, a decrease in visual acuity was observed in 82% of male astronauts and 62% of female astronauts. In this case, cases of clinical deterioration were reported only in men.
• During space flights, changes in the functioning and concentration of key components of the immune system were noted. However, there was no difference in the responses of the immune systems between men and women. On earth, in women, the immune systems react more strongly than in men, which makes them more resistant to viral and bacterial infections. Being infected, the woman shows an even stronger reaction of the immune system. At the same time, it makes them more vulnerable to autoimmune diseases. There is no exact data whether the described features will manifest themselves in space.
• Women are more susceptible to cancer as a result of radiation exposure than men. Therefore, for female astronauts, the permissible level of exposure should be lower than for men.
• After getting into the conditions of microgravity on the ISS, women had slightly more cases of "cosmic disease" than men. At the same time, men are more prone to "cosmic disease" after returning to Earth. However, these data cannot be considered statistically significant due to the very small number of reported cases among men and women.
• In male astronauts, hearing acuity declines much faster with age. There is no data on the relationship of this trend with the stay in microgravity.
• Degradation of bone and muscle tissue varies within very wide limits and depends on the individual characteristics of the astronauts. The dependence of this process on the floor is not revealed.
• In space, female astronauts are more likely to have cases of urinary system infections. All of them are successfully cured with antibiotics.
• Relationship between gender and psychological and behavioral changes have not been identified. Also, the floor does not affect the change in the quality of sleep. It should be noted that all astronauts are subjected to very thorough testing and screening on psychological criteria.

There are many more differences between men and women in space, fluent in English can familiarize themselves with most of the documents . As a result, it can be said that the organism of both men and women is subjected to serious tests under microgravity conditions. Still, we are created to walk the Earth (well, or the planets), and not hang out in weightlessness.