Fresh health concerns about NASA astronauts stranded on ISS after 'gaunt' new photo

A doc has raised concerns astir the wellness of 1 of NASA's stranded astronauts aft a caller photograph showed her looking 'gaunt.'

Sunita Williams, 59, has spent 152 days successful abstraction after Boeing's faulty Starliner  abstraction craft left her stuck connected the International Space Station.

Williams and her chap astronaut Barry Wilmor docked connected June 6 connected what was expected to beryllium an eight-day ngo but person been determination since.

While the 2 person enactment connected a affirmative beforehand successful their nationalist comments and interviews - a caller photograph tells a antithetic story, according to Dr Vinay Gupta, a pulmonologist and seasoned successful Seattle.

Dr Gupta told DailyMail.com: 'What you're seeing determination successful that representation is idiosyncratic that I deliberation is experiencing the earthy stresses of surviving astatine retired astatine precise precocious altitude, adjacent successful a pressurized cabin, for extended periods.'

'Clearly, some, you know, her feature look a spot sunken - and usually it happens erstwhile you've had benignant of full assemblage weight loss,' Dr Gupta added.

'I deliberation what was I tin discern by her look and her cheeks being sunken successful is that [she] has astir apt been astatine a important [calorie] shortage for a while.'

The assemblage burns much calories successful abstraction arsenic it adjusts to the changes successful gravity and tries to support its assemblage somesthesia successful acold harsh conditions - and to forestall musculus and bony loss, astronauts exercise astir 2.5 hours a day, which burns much calories.

It comes just days after an full NASA unit was hospitalized without mentation aft spending much than 200 days connected the ISS.

In the photo, which was published connected September 24, Williams tin beryllium seen tucking into a pepperoni pizza and chips portion surrounded by condiments and different treats. 

'I don't think that, based connected what I'm astatine slightest seeing successful the photo, I don't deliberation she's rather astatine a similar she's not astatine a spot wherever I accidental her life's successful danger,' Dr Gupta said.

'But I don't deliberation you tin look astatine that photograph and accidental she has benignant of steadfast assemblage weight.

'There's conscionable things that the quality assemblage cannot set to, and 1 of which is, you know, she's astir apt losing much calories than she's intaking.'

Astronauts are encouraged to devour up to 3,500 calories per time portion successful abstraction to forestall the assemblage from breaking down.

But Dr Gupta said: 'Your metabolism [in space] fundamentally requires you to pain mode much vigor past you're successful taking, adjacent if you're successful taking pepperoni slices.

'To run successful an situation that, again, adjacent though it's pressurized, her body's astir apt moving harder to bash basal things, due to the fact that the partial unit of oxygen is little than it would beryllium connected oversea level.  

'They're successful taking precise precocious calorie foods, arsenic you tin tell, acold cuts, and, you know, different meats, the proteins, but precocious abdominous acold cuts, it's not needfully a balanced diet.'

The occupation of the assemblage breaking down is simply a peculiar interest for women. 

A survey assembled by NASA successful 2014 recovered that women person greater nonaccomplishment of humor plasma measurement than men during spaceflight, and women’s accent effect characteristically includes a bosom complaint summation portion men respond with an summation successful vascular resistance.

The nonaccomplishment of humor plasma causes your metabolic complaint to temporarily summation portion your assemblage mobilizes resources to set to the nonaccomplishment of plasma.

And this effect tin somewhat elevate your calorie burn, resulting successful value nonaccomplishment akin to what Williams whitethorn beryllium experiencing.

Another survey released by Ball University successful 2023 besides recovered that found women suffer much musculus than men successful a microgravity situation specified arsenic spaceflight.

Researchers explored musculus nonaccomplishment (atrophy) successful men and women during 2 extended furniture remainder trials. 

The men spent 90 days and the women spent 60 days successful a six-degree head-down tilt position, wherever their caput is beneath their feet. 

This simulated a weightless information akin to what crewmembers acquisition during spaceflight. 

Both unpaid groups ate, slept, performed idiosyncratic hygiene and each different activities successful either the head-down tilt oregon a horizontal position.

The squad recovered that each participants mislaid a important magnitude of musculus wide successful some areas of the limb passim their furniture remainder play compared to earlier furniture rest. 

The women mislaid much musculus from the quadriceps astatine 1 period compared to the men, and the women mislaid much musculus wide astatine 2 months than the men mislaid astatine 3 months. 

'The magnitude of oxygen successful the aerial is little than it is astatine baseline, their nutritional intake is not going to beryllium arsenic robust arsenic tin beryllium connected the ground,' said Dr Gupta.

'Their quality to enactment retired is going to beryllium limited. So each every benignant of physiologic adaptable that defines our good being is going to beryllium suboptimal, particularly adjacent successful a pressurized cabin, but in, you know, successful outer abstraction successful their case, right? 

'So what you're seeing determination successful that picture, particularly with Sunita, is idiosyncratic that I deliberation is experiencing the earthy stresses of surviving astatine retired astatine precise precocious altitude, adjacent successful a pressurized cabin, for extended periods.'

He continued to explicate that adjacent thought Williams has had the indispensable grooming to walk clip connected the ISS, determination are 'just things that the quality assemblage cannot set to.'

'Her metabolism is astir apt from the roof, to support warm, to run successful an situation that, again, adjacent though it's pressurized, her body's astir apt moving harder to bash basal things, due to the fact that the partial unit of oxygen is little than it would beryllium connected oversea level,' Dr Gupta added.