Asthenization

In medicine, asthenization is a condition experienced by astronauts following long-term space flight, in which following return to Earth the astronaut experiences symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, lack of appetite, and sleep disorders. The condition's name derives from asthenia, which is a medical term denoting a feeling of weakness without actual loss of strength.

It is suspected to be a psychosomatic effect of the result of overachieving astronauts no longer having a goal after becoming astronauts, or potentially a neurological effect of microgravity. Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, was afflicted with this condition after returning from the moon.

See also

• Effect of spaceflight on the human body

References

• Nick Kanas, MD, Vyacheslav Salnitskiy, PhD, Vadim Gushin, MD, Daniel S. Weiss, PhD, Ellen M. Grund, MS, Christopher Flynn, MD, Olga Kozerenko, MD, Alexander Sled, MS and Charles R. Marmar, MD (November 1, 2001). "Asthenia—Does It Exist in Space?". Psychosomatic Medicine. 63 (6): 874–80. doi:10.1097/00006842-200111000-00004. PMID 11719624.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• "Brain Oxygenation, Cerebral Blood and Liquor Dynamics in Cosmonauts during Space Flight".