A recent study reveals that more than half of the medications kept in space, such as pain relievers, antibiotics, allergy medicines, and sleep aids, would expire before astronauts could come back to Earth.
Medications used by astronauts on the International Space Station may not be suitable for a three-year journey to Mars, posing potential health risks.
The research, led by Duke Health, indicates that expired medications can result in astronauts relying on ineffective or possibly harmful drugs, as published on July 23 in the npj Microgravity journal, a Nature publication.
Dr. Daniel Buckland, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Duke University School of Medicine and an aerospace medicine researcher, highlighted the importance of planning for the reduced effectiveness of expired medications in space missions.
The stability and potency of medications in space compared to Earth are largely unknown, and the harsh space environment, including radiation, can impact the efficacy of drugs.
This challenge with expired medications is particularly concerning as space agencies prepare for long missions to Mars and beyond, according to Buckland and co-author Thomas E. Diaz.
The researchers discovered that a significant portion of the medications on the space station have a shelf-life of 36 months or less, with estimates indicating that a majority of these medicines would expire before a Mars mission concludes.
To address this issue, the study suggests options such as increasing the variety of medications carried onboard to compensate for the reduced efficacy of expired drugs, selecting medications with longer shelf lives, or accepting the risks associated with using expired medication.
While astronauts have experienced illnesses on the International Space Station, the presence of real-time communication and a well-stocked pharmacy with regular resupply helps manage health issues effectively, preventing minor ailments from escalating into mission-affecting problems, Dr. Buckland noted.
The research, which involved additional authors Emma Ives and Diana I. Lazare, did not receive any external funding.
