Medical Effects of Spaceflight Medical Effects of Spaceflight Certain negative effects appear with every space flight on almost all crew members, such as a headward fluid shift and muscle deconditioning. Other effects, however, are not very consistent and do not always occur. A few of these include nausea, headache, backache, congestion and insomnia.
Astronauts take medicine to alleviate the pain or discomfort caused by the body's adaption to space.
Medications carried on Space Shuttle missions have varied somewhat from flight to flight, depending on the individual needs of crewmembers. Before determining what measures are to be taken in space, it is first essential to define how exactly space effects the physiology of the systems of human beings. A fluid shift results as blood and other fluids move from the feet, legs, and lower trunk to the upper body, the upper trunk, and the head. This fluid shift causes at first the heart to enlarge in order to handle the increased blood flow. The astronauts become much less thirsty than normal, and the kidneys increase the output of urine.