Medicines Lose Effectiveness In Space

An anonymous reader writes "Scientists at the Johnson Space Center have shown that the effectiveness of drugs declines more rapidly in space. Engineers are working on a project which could bring space travel to the general public but experiments suggest that the health hazards facing astronauts may be greater than previously thought. Astronauts on long space missions may not be able to take paracetamol to treat a headache or antibiotics to fight infection, a study has found. I wonder if diseases are also affected?"

Comments

Paracetamol = Acetaminophen (Tylenol)

[Anonymous Coward]

For those of us wondering, here in the United States.

Re: I wonder if diseases are also affected?

[Jessified]

A: At least one is.

Salmonella in Space Get Even Nastier
http://www.space.com/6481-salmonella-space-nastier.html

Re:Treat Infection?

[Kurofuneparry]

If you haven't gotten the infection before you came on, you're not going to get sick from the microbes in space.

This is not true. From a relevant Wikipedia article: The human body, consisting of about 100 trillion cells, carries about ten times as many microorganisms in the intestines. Any of this including the most benign cyanobacteria can lead to major infection. In fact, not taking in sufficient bacteria from the environment can be a cause of disease. It's an old disproved myth that "Avoiding illness is as simple as avoiding microbes."

Additionally, this doesn't account for latent diseases like herpes and many other viruses. Then again ..... I'm an idiot in medical school ......