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Traveling to Mars could destroy your kidneys

popsci.com
submitted
a year ago
byiareuniquetoscience

Summary

New research shows that long term spaceflight might permanently damage a human’s kidneys. This new work shows that an astronaut going to Mars might even need dialysis on the way back. Our kidneys are responsible for cleaning out our blood and regulating the amount of fluid in our bodies.

Astronauts are losing extra calcium from their bones weakening. They are also having a harder time than usual getting rid of that excess calcium in their kidneys. It’s yet unclear why these particular changes are happening, but the authors postulate that changes in blood pressure might be putting extra strain on the kidneys.

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5 Comments

3
froggyweather
a year ago
Damn can't believe we're just learning about these effects! You'd think we would have seen this years ago
2
iareuniqueOP
a year ago
I think we've had astronauts staying up longer and longer as time had gone on so that's why we're starting to see longer term effects
2
justadev
a year ago
Based on the speed, going to Mars would most likely be a one way trip for people right?
2
eldiscipulo
a year ago
Yup! The idea has always been the first people are colonizers and not returning
2
getthatmoneyyo
a year ago
Pretty much. I don't know that anybody would want to do that's a round trip