Strange Science: patients

Wednesday, 19 December 2012

Experts advise doctors on how to clear patients for space travel

Dec. 13, 2012 — With the prospect of space travel for tourists looming, clinicians could soon be asked to advise on medical clearance for their patients, says a paper published in the BMJ Christmas edition and appearing online today.

Space travel opportunities are becoming increasingly available to the general public with bookings already in place.

A team of experts from North America therefore looked to provide advice to clinicians who require direction when advising patients on space travel.

The Aerospace Medical Association Commercial Spaceflight Working Group did publish a document in 2009 stating that most individuals with "well controlled medical conditions" could withstand the acceleration forces from a launch of a commercial spaceflight. But the researchers say it is important that patients recognise that space flight could carry risks for those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Loss of appetite, space motion sickness, fatigue, insomnia, dehydration and back pain are already very common in space travel. In addition, the proportion of space travellers who are not as healthy as the original astronauts is increasing, which makes adverse in-flight medical events more likely.

The researchers suggest that clinicians should "consider developing a resource file for future reference," and that the medical documentation arising from previous space travel should be readily available.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BMJ-British Medical Journal.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

S. M. Grenon, J. Saary, G. Gray, J. M. Vanderploeg, M. Hughes-Fulford. Can I take a space flight? Considerations for doctors. BMJ, 2012; 345 (dec13 8): e8124 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.e8124

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Dogs can help wake sleepy patients on public transport

Dec. 13, 2012 — Researchers in Belgium show how dogs can help patients with severe sleep problems, in an article on bmj.com.

They describe a 35 year old patient with severe excessive daytime sleepiness. She suffered sleep attacks up to six times a day and sometimes slept up to 16 hours a day.

Until recently, this severe sleepiness considerably hampered her social life and limited her use of public transport, as she usually fell asleep within a few minutes of sitting down.

She'd then wake up at the end of the line and have to fight sleepiness on the way back. Sometimes she'd forget where she started from.

Medication had only a limited effect, so the patient was put in contact with a charity that provides trained dogs for people with visual or hearing impairment.

A dog was first trained to wake the patient in the morning at the sound of an alarm clock, even if this sometimes required 30 minutes of gentle biting. The dog then learnt to wake the patient at the sound of the mobile phone ringing. Eventually, he learnt to wake her up, if necessary, at every metro, tram, or bus station.

This animal companionship has allowed our patient to move around the city efficiently and carry on a social life, say the authors. "The intervention could benefit other patients with similarly extreme and treatment resistant daytime sleepiness," they conclude.