Long duration vacations healthy for special people?

Recently I've read that astronauts lose weight while being at the ISS.

So it may be that long duration vacations in space may be healthy for people who have too much weight. The loss of weight may include parts of the body where no loss of weight is desired but this may be prevented I think.

What about this? Space travels as medical measure? Will need developments and medical research but that wouldn't be a big problem I think.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

It appears at the moment that the most immeadiate reason for losing weight on the ISS is lack of food.

The weight loss is probably due to muscle waistage, since muscle tissue weighs more than normal tissue a body probably loses weight overall.

I read it in article that didn't have to do with the actual situation.

As far as I know the people who have to much and unhealthy weight have muscles of too much weight too - for these people it will be healthy to lose weight of the muscles.

But you're right - that's the reason why medical developments are required that should accompany the long duration vacations for the loss of unhealthy weight.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

I think its doubtfull its healthy for untrained people. Astronauts have always been the top military guys with lots of G-training. If un 'unhealthy' person gets into space, all the fat will not just burn up without any reason. A lot of his muscles will have nothing to do (apart from trying to get stable) so no fat will be burned/used. If that person will follow the same schedule for training for the astronauts, im sure they will burn fat quickly, but im sure that will happen the same way as it should happen on the earth.

It might be that a hightened level of concentartion, just to keep balance etc, could somehow trigger a faster rate of fat burning. But i dont think that just being in 0 g environment could help.

As far as I know this valid on Earth only. In space nearly everything requires less energy stored in fat and so people will eat less than on Earth. But the biological processes of the human body do require nearly the same amount of energy as on Earth. So people in space eat a little bit less and the fat of their bodies is burnt by the permanent purposes to keep the body alive and healthy.

This may be very silly and speculative - I have very insufficient knowledges of this. But something must have happened to the fat the astronauts are losing in general while being in space. If it is not burned by work...



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

I meant that the point was the same They eat less because they need less, but if that happens also on earth, the effect sould be the same, should

BUt if we would have a permanent station up there, i somehow feel these questions will be a bit useless unless we can really test them.

Great idea Ekkehard. No kidding, I think the market for fat farms in space could be huge!

Stefan,

may be you are overinterpreting my point a little bit - I consider the loss of weight caused by long duration vacations in space as a by-effect that could increase the "Public Perception of Privatized Space Travel" (forum title) a little bit at least. This will be valid in the case of orbital flights and interplanetary flights but not in the case of the actual possible and by Branson offered suborbital flights.

It's simply a contribution to a list of what can increase the perception.

desertbadger, do you have ideas about details of the idea?



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

I cant help thinking that people who are overweight through eating to much on Earth will do exactly the same in space. One of the reasons astronaults may loose weight is that their diet is constantly monitored and everything is prepared beforehand (less opportunity to eat snacks). Also astronaults on long stays have to workout quite a lot to mantain muscle tone.

If you gave people the same diet and made them exercise they would probably loose more weight on Earth.

I see no inherent advantage of going to space to loose weight (although the view might take your mind of eating), but if the cost of a flight was proportional to the weight of the astronault then the opposite might be true ie loose weight to go to space as an incentive.

Here's a question how would you monitor how much weight was lost by an individual? They are in a weightless environment afterall.

One of the causes why the suborbital tickets at Virgin Galactic have a price of 200,000$ is "dietary work" according to the most recent article under www.xprizenews.org. The article explains the reasons.

So I suppose Branson will keep to do dietary work if he would offer orbital flights. The supplier of flights and the supplier of orbital vacations and the chief of a space station will control the food and its consumption.

This would mean that Branson etc. will monitor etc. their tourists as well as Nasa is doing this concerning its astronauts. One of the reasons will be what the article is reporting.

MY point wasn't that someone should go to space for lossing weight - the loss of weight is only a healthy by-effect assisting the cahnce of better public perception.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

The reason he has to do this is because he otherwise cant guarantee the 4 minutes of space if there were a bit too mny heavy people on board

Well it works for cigarettes.

To hijack a thread, people with amputated legs might make good semi-permanent residents of space stations. Because if they are never going to walk again anyway...