Space travel can accelerate Alzheimer’s: U.S. study [View all]
Source: Agence France-Presse
Long journeys into deep space, including a mission to Mars, could expose astronauts to levels of cosmic radiation harmful to the brain and accelerate Alzheimer’s disease, said US research Monday.
The NASA-funded study involved bombarding mice with varied radiation doses, including levels comparable to what voyagers would experience during a mission to Mars, and seeing how the animals managed to recall objects or locations.
Mice that were exposed to radiation were far more likely to fail those tasks — suggesting neurological impairment earlier than such symptoms typically appear.
“Galactic cosmic radiation poses a significant threat to future astronauts,” said Michael O’Banion, a professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center and senior author of the study published in scientific journal Plos One.
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Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/31/space-travel-can-accelerate-alzheimers-u-s-study/
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