May 5, 2049

Staying On The Peak Of Health
By Staff Writer Christopher Perdue

When you are at the moon’s Peak of Eternal Light, you will be in gravity that is 1/6 of the Earth’s gravity. This will have some serious side effects on your health if you ever choose to return to Earth. There are several steps you can take to minimize adverse effects of lunar life. To be better prepared, this article offers information on the effects of low-gravity, nutrition, exercise and radiation exposure.

In the moon's gravity, your muscles will begin to change and atrophy. “Atrophy” means that your muscles will become smaller and have less strength than before. In space, atrophy can occur at up to 5% a week. Researchers have found that the only way to minimize muscle atrophy is by intensive, daily exercise. The reason your muscles atrophy is because your body thinks that it doesn't need them; there is minimal gravity pulling on you to make you use them. Once you return to Earth, it would take a few days plus exercise to recover the muscle you lose.

Another negative effect of life on the moon is that your bone density will begin to decrease. Bone loss occurs in the low-gravity environment on the moon because your bones no longer have to support the body against gravity. This won’t matter much on the moon, but it could be a big problem if you return to Earth. The bone loss could be so severe that it could take several years to recover lost bone - if ever. Scientists have found that space travelers must take drugs known as biphosphonates each day. This is an important step in minimizing decreased bone density and preventing fractures and other skeletal problems on your return to Earth’s gravitational field.

Your body will also experience a decrease in fluid volume. By the time you arrive on the moon your blood volume could have changed by as much as 22%. Your heart won’t have to pump as hard. Your upper body will look puffier because the fluid tends to accumulate there – there’s no gravity to pull it down. With a decreased fluid volume, dehydration and the dangers of dehydration can occur much more easily. Lunar medical staff are available should you feel dizzy, light-headed or weak. If you ever return to Earth, your fluid volume would probably return to normal within a few days.

One thing that you will not need to worry about on the moon is gaining weight. As a matter of fact, you will actually lose weight. This fact has been established for years. In 2004, Dr. Ronald Merrell of the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond said, “We have had people in space for greater portions of a year and have not had a problem with malnutrition.” That has continued to be true. On the moon, much of the food you eat is dehydrated or grown in an elaborate system of hydroponic farms in the lunar colony. You are able to get some Earth-grown fresh vegetables and fruits. To fly from the Earth to the moon requires three days so food shipments are made regularly. Yet, meat and dairy products are only available sporadically or in dehydrated form due to refrigeration and transportation issues.

Astronaut Bill Shepherd prepares for a long stay on the International Space Station with muscle-building exercises on Earth.

Before you go to the moon you will need to exercise and build muscle mass. You will need to be at the peak of fitness. This preventative step will help to minimize muscle and bone loss. If you aren’t physically strong when you go, you could suffer many more ill effects - up to 10 times as much - as someone who is fit. Exercise is a necessity on the moon. If you don’t exercise, you could lose significantly more muscle and bone than if you do exercise. All colony residents and guests exercise at least one hour each day. You have two main options for bone-building exercise. The first option is a Lower Body Negative Pressure Chamber. The LBNPC is a chamber that contains a bicycle mechanism and uses vacuums to give the effect of gravity to your lower body. Another option is the specially designed “Space Mill” which is a treadmill-style machine with elastic restraints that hold you in place. Other forms of exercise are available but are not proven to be as effective in preventing damage to muscles and bones.

To this point, our focus has been on the effects of space living over which you have some personal control. A very real danger over which you have no control is radiation. On Earth, we don’t need to worry about radiation because our atmosphere keeps it out, but on the moon, there is no atmosphere to protect us. To protect houses from radiation, your lodging will partially underground. The exposed portion will be two half domes, one bigger than the other. There is a layer of water between them. “Water is an excellent shield against radiation”, said Dr. Merrell. One cause of radiation is the sun’s solar storms. The other main cause of radiation – and one of greater potential for harm - is cosmic rays. “Someone walking on the moon, even in a fancy space-suit, would be as good as naked in the face of the sun’s worst fury... Particle radiation in space can go right through the body and tear apart strands of DNA.”, says Robert Britt of Space.com. Some of the health risks associated with radiation exposure are cancer, cataracts, acute radiation sickness, hereditary defects, and damage to the central nervous system. Obviously, protecting humans from radiation is a huge focus in the lunar colony.

It is important that we see the changes to our bodies in space as not necessarily illness that is contracted from something in space. Instead, these changes are, as Dr. Merrell once said, “simple adaptations of our bodies to space living.” While you must take precautions to protect yourself from the effects of excessive radiation exposure and you must exercise to diminish the effects of low-gravity on bones and muscles, the adventure of living on the moon’s Peak of Eternal Light is not to be missed.