What This Document Is
This document is a literature review focused on the use of medications in the context of space travel, specifically authored by Dr. Virginia Wotring for the BIO110 Research Methods I course at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. It synthesizes existing research regarding medication usage, effectiveness, and the unique challenges presented by the space environment – particularly how the human body processes drugs differently in space (pharmacokinetics).
Why This Document Matters
This review is valuable for students and researchers in aerospace medicine, pharmacology, and related fields. It’s used within a research methods course to demonstrate how existing literature informs new investigations. Understanding the current state of knowledge regarding space pharmacology is crucial for ensuring astronaut health and mission success, especially as spaceflight duration increases. The document highlights gaps in current research and areas requiring further study.
Common Limitations or Challenges
This literature review provides an overview of existing studies; it does not present original research or offer definitive solutions. It identifies areas where more data is needed, but doesn’t conduct those studies itself. Users will still need to consult the primary source articles cited within to fully understand the methodologies and detailed findings.
What This Document Provides
The full document includes a discussion of:
* Observed medication usage patterns among astronauts for common ailments (sleep, headaches, motion sickness, skin irritations, pain).
* An analysis of the efficacy of these medications in a space environment.
* An overview of the field of space pharmacokinetics and the factors (fluid shifts, bone density loss, immune system changes) that affect drug absorption and metabolism in space.
* Specific citations to research by Wotring (2015) and Kast et al (2017), among others.
This preview does *not* include the full text of the cited studies, detailed pharmacokinetic data, or a comprehensive list of all medications used by astronauts. It provides a high-level overview of the review’s scope and key findings.