Astronauts without a history of headaches frequently experience migraines and tension-type headaches throughout space travel, with a study showing a substantial boost in headache incidents in absolutely no gravity. None of them had a history of frequent headaches or had ever been diagnosed with migraine.Of the overall individuals, 22 astronauts experienced one or more episode of headache throughout a total of 3,596 days in area for all participants.Astronauts completed health screenings and a questionnaire about their headache history before the flight. During area flight, astronauts filled out a day-to-day survey for the very first seven days and a weekly questionnaire each following week throughout their stay in the area station.The astronauts reported 378 headaches in flight.Researchers discovered that 92% of astronauts experienced headaches during flight compared to simply 38% of them experiencing headaches prior to flight.Of the total headaches, 170, or 90%, were tension-type headache and 19, or 10%, were migraine.Conclusions and Research ImplicationsResearchers likewise found that headaches were of a higher intensity and more likely to be migraine-like during the first week of space flight.
Astronauts without a history of headaches often experience migraines and tension-type headaches during area travel, with a research study showing a substantial increase in headache occurrences in no gravity. Credit: SciTechDaily.comSpace travel is associated with an increased incidence of headaches among astronauts, emphasizing the requirement for additional research and improved treatment methods.Space travel and absolutely no gravity can take a toll on the body. A new study has actually discovered that astronauts with no prior history of headaches may experience migraine and tension-type headaches throughout long-haul area flight, that includes more than 10 days in space. The study was released in the March 13, 2024, online problem of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.Understanding Space-Induced Headaches”Changes in gravity triggered by area flight affect the function of lots of parts of the body, including the brain,” said study author W. P. J. van Oosterhout, MD, PhD, of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. “The vestibular system, which impacts balance and posture, has to adapt to the dispute in between the signals it is anticipating to receive and the real signals it receives in the lack of typical gravity. This can result in area movement sickness in the first week, of which headache is the most frequently reported sign. Our study shows that headaches likewise happen later on in space flight and could be connected to a boost in pressure within the skull.”Study Design and FindingsThe study included 24 astronauts from the European Space Agency, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. They were designated to International Space Station expeditions for up to 26 weeks from November 2011 to June 2018. Prior to the research study, 9 astronauts reported never ever having any headaches and three had a headache that disrupted daily activities in the in 2015. None of them had a history of persistent headaches or had ever been diagnosed with migraine.Of the total individuals, 22 astronauts experienced several episode of headache throughout an overall of 3,596 days in area for all participants.Astronauts finished health screenings and a questionnaire about their headache history before the flight. Throughout area flight, astronauts filled out a day-to-day questionnaire for the very first seven days and a weekly survey each following week throughout their remain in the space station.The astronauts reported 378 headaches in flight.Researchers found that 92% of astronauts experienced headaches throughout flight compared to simply 38% of them experiencing headaches prior to flight.Of the overall headaches, 170, or 90%, were tension-type headache and 19, or 10%, were migraine.Conclusions and Research ImplicationsResearchers likewise found that headaches were of a higher intensity and more likely to be migraine-like throughout the first week of area flight. Throughout this time, 21 astronauts had several headaches for an overall of 51 headaches. Of the 51 headaches, 39 were considered tension-type headaches and 12 were likely or migraine-like migraine.In the three months after go back to Earth, none of the astronauts reported any headaches.”Further research study is required to unravel the underlying causes of space headache and check out how such discoveries might provide insights into headaches happening in the world,” stated Van Oosterhout. “Also, more effective treatments require to be established to combat space headaches when it comes to many astronauts this a major issue throughout space flights.”This research does not prove that going into space triggers headaches; it just shows an association.A constraint of the study was that astronauts reported their own symptoms, so they may not have actually kept in mind all the details accurately.Reference: “Frequency and Clinical Features of Space Headache Experienced by Astronauts During Long-Haul Space Flights” by Willebrordus P.J. van Oosterhout, Matthijs J.L. Perenboom, Gisela M. Terwindt, Michel D. Ferrari and Alla A. Vein, 13 March 2024, Neurology.DOI: 10.1212/ WNL.0000000000209224 The research study was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.