New NASA and NSBRI report on sex and gender differences in adaptation to space flight

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

17-Nov-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, November 17, 2014--In the future, as space exploration takes astronauts on longer missions and more female astronauts participate, "The Impact of Sex and Gender on Adaptation to Space" will become increasingly critical to astronaut safety and mission success, as explored in a special collection of articles published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The articles are available Open Access on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://online.liebertpub.com/toc/jwh/23/11.

In the Executive Summary, Drs. Saralyn Mark, Graham Scott, Dorit Donoviel, Lauren Leveton, John Charles, and Bette Siegel and Ms. Erin Mahoney from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), and Valador, Inc. provide an overview of six individual articles in the November issue of the Journal derived from the findings of workgroups formed to report on the current research related to sex- and gender-based differences in how humans adapt to spaceflight. Each workgroup and article focuses on a specific type of adaptation: cardiovascular, immunological, sensorimotor, musculoskeletal, reproductive, and behavioral.

In her Commentary, Dr. Mark remarks that in addition to ongoing missions for the purpose of space exploration and research, "NASA has promoted the development of the commercial space sector for the transport of payloads and eventually humans." The impact of sex and gender should influence "the development of equipment, machine-human interfaces, and countermeasures including the use of personalized medicine and genomics or -'astro-omics.'"

"Understanding sex and gender differences in physiological and psychological adaptation to space is increasingly important as the number of female astronauts increases," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health.

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About the Journal

Journal of Women's Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. The Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women's healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh. Journal of Women's Health is the official journal of the Academy of Women's Health and the Society for Women's Health Research.

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New NASA and NSBRI report on sex and gender differences in adaptation to space flight