In a study tracking astronaut health, 22 of 24 International Space Station (ISS) visitors suffered headaches almost three times as frequently as when on Earth. Even some astronauts with no history of headaches may experience migraine and tension-type headaches during stays of 10 days or longer in space, reported a new study published in Neurology.
The causes remain unclear, according to the study’s author, W. P. J. van Oosterhout, of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. “Changes in gravity caused by space flight affect the function of many parts of the body, including the brain,” he said in a press release.
The astronauts from the European Space Agency, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency underwent health screenings prior to their missions. They also completed questionnaires documenting their headache history. Once in space, they completed the questionnaires for the first seven days ...
