Space travel affects immune system

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers said prolonged time in space apparently lowers the natural immunity system of the human body.

The NASA-sponsored research revealed the immune system appears to weaken in space, leaving astronauts more susceptible to bacteria and viruses, The Washington Post reported Monday.

"Human beings evolved in gravity and it makes perfect sense that some systems -- especially the immune and skeletal systems -- might not do well without it," researcher Millie Hughes-Fulford, a former astronaut, told the newspaper.

Duane Pierson, a senior microbiologist at the Johnson Space Center, said he focused his inquiry on the reactivation during space missions of dormant viruses.

"Even though astronauts are not now getting sick on their missions, we see very clearly statistically significant reproducible change in immune functioning after two weeks in space," Pierson said.

The effects of prolonged time in space are of great concern to NASA because the space agency is actively planning for astronauts living for months on the moon or make the years-long missions to Mars and back, the Post report said.