Fluid Problem For Astronauts

Scientists identify the cause of bizarre eye problems that affect astronauts.

16:38 29 November 2016

Scientists have long feared that astronauts on a mission to Mars could go blind after two thirds of spacefarers suffered from blurred vision on return to Earth. 

 

A team of researchers says that the bizarre eye problem might be related to changes in the clear fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. The result of their study was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, United States. 

 

"People initially didn't know what to make of it, and by 2010 there was growing concern as it became apparent that some of the astronauts had severe structural changes that were not fully reversible upon return to Earth," said lead author Noam Alperin, from the University of Miami.

 

"If the ocular structural deformations are not identified early, astronauts could suffer irreversible damage," he said, "as the eye globe becomes more flattened, the astronauts become hyperopic, or far-sighted."

 

Prof Alperin has received a $600,000 grant from Nasa to study the condition.