A doctor has expressed concern about the health of one of NASA’s stranded astronauts after a recent photograph showed her looking “emaciated.”
Sunita Williams, 59, has spent 152 days in space after Boeing’s faulty Starliner spacecraft left her stranded at the International Space Station.
Williams and fellow astronaut Barry Wilmor docked on June 6 on what was supposed to be an eight-day mission, but they have been there ever since.
While the two have presented a positive appearance in their public comments and interviews, a recent photo tells a different story, according to Dr. Vinay Gupta, a pulmonologist and veteran in Seattle.
Dr Gupta told DailyMail.com: “What you are seeing in that image is someone who I believe is experiencing the natural stress of living at very high altitude, even in a pressurized cabin, for prolonged periods.”
“Clearly some, you know, their cheeks look a little sunken, and usually this happens when you’ve had sort of a total loss of body weight,” Dr. Gupta added.
“I think what I can discern from his face and sunken cheeks is that he’s probably been in a significant (calorie) deficit for a while.”
The body burns more calories in space as it adapts to changes in gravity and tries to maintain its body temperature in cold, harsh conditions; And to prevent muscle and bone loss, astronauts exercise about 2.5 hours a day, which burns more calories.
It comes just days after an entire NASA crew was hospitalized without explanation after spending more than 200 days on the ISS.
HEALTH PICTURE: Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmor before their mission on June 6
USING HER: A doctor expressed concern about Sunita’s health, stating that this September 24 showed her looking “emaciated.”
In the photo, which was posted on September 24, Williams can be seen eating a pepperoni pizza and French fries while surrounded by condiments and other treats.
‘No “I think based on what I’m at least seeing in the photo, I don’t think he’s in a place where I’m saying his life is in danger,” Dr. Gupta said.
‘BBut I don’t think you can look at that photo and say she’s a healthy body weight.
‘TThere are things that the human body can’t adapt to, and one of which is, you know, you’re probably losing more calories than you’re taking in.’
Astronauts are encouraged to consume up to 3,500 calories per day while in space to prevent the body from breaking down.
But Dr. Gupta said: “Your metabolism (in space) fundamentally requires that you burn much more energy than you are consuming, even if you are eating slices of pepperoni.”
“Operating in an environment where, again, even though you’re pressurized, your body is probably working harder to do basic things, because the partial pressure of oxygen is lower than it would be at sea level.
The crew eats high-calorie foods to combat the harsh muscle-wasting effects of being in space.
“They’re eating very high-calorie foods, as you can see, sausages and, you know, other meats, proteins, but high-fat sausages, it’s not necessarily a balanced diet.”
The problem of body deterioration is of particular concern to women.
A 2014 NASA study found that women have a greater loss of blood plasma volume than men during spaceflight, and women’s stress response characteristically includes an increase in heart rate, while men respond with an increase in vascular resistance.
The loss of blood plasma causes your metabolic rate to temporarily increase while your body mobilizes resources to adapt to the loss of plasma.
And this response may slightly elevate calorie burning, resulting in weight loss similar to what Williams might be experiencing.
Another study published by Ball University in 2023 also found that women lose more muscle than men in a microgravity environment like spaceflight.
The researchers explored muscle loss (atrophy) in men and women during two prolonged bed rest trials.
The men spent 90 days and the women 60 days in a six-degree head-down tilt position, where the head is below the feet.
This simulated a weightlessness condition similar to that experienced by crew members during space flights.
Both groups of volunteers ate, slept, performed personal hygiene and all other activities, either with their heads down or in a horizontal position.
The team found that all participants lost a significant amount of muscle mass in both areas of the leg during the bed rest period compared to before bed rest.
Women lost more quadriceps muscle at one month compared to men, and women lost more muscle mass at two months than men at three months.
“The amount of oxygen in the air is less than the baseline level, your nutritional intake will not be as robust as it can be on land,” Dr. Gupta said.
‘Your ability to exercise will be limited. So every kind of physiological variable that defines our well-being is going to be suboptimal, especially even in a pressurized cabin, but, you know, in outer space in your case, right?
“So what you’re seeing in that image, especially with Sunita, is someone who I think is experiencing the natural stress of living at very high altitude, even in a pressurized cabin, for prolonged periods.”
He went on to explain that although Williams has received the training necessary to spend time on the ISS, there are “just things that the human body cannot adapt to.”
“Your metabolism is probably through the roof, to keep warm, to operate in an environment that, again, even though it’s pressurized, your body is probably working harder to do basic things, because the partial pressure of oxygen is lower than what it would be at sea level,” Dr. Gupta added.
