We really need to do a lot more research and a lot more work, but it's very promising that this NASA exercise framework could be applied to help the approximately 1 million individuals that will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States this year, as well as the over 15 million cancer survivors in the United States today.

Jessica Scott

Categorized in : Health News

It was surprising when we looked at similarities between astronauts during spaceflight and cancer patients during treatment. Both have a decrease in muscle mass, and they have bone demineralization and changes in heart function, astronauts may get something called space fog, where they have trouble focusing or get a little forgetful. That's very similar to what some cancer patients experience, which is called chemo brain.

That's why it's very timely that we start thinking about how to utilize NASA's tactics to manage some of these long-term side effects of cancer treatments, many patients aren't dying from their cancer, but they're now at risk of dying from these side effects. Using NASA's exercise plan could help with this.