What We Learned From The Accelerated Aging of Astronauts
March 8, 2012 Did you know that astronauts undergo vastly accelerate aging during space flights? According to a recent review in the journal Clinical Interventions in Aging:
“The loss of the functional capacity of the cardiovascular system with space flight is over ten times faster than the course of aging on Earth.”
It has been postulated that magnesium (Mg) deficiency may be the major contributing factor underlying these observed pathological changes. Indeed, the review pointed out that “With space flight there are significant reductions of serum Mg (P<0.0001) that have been shown in large studies of astronauts and cosmonauts.”
Due to the fact that magnesium is an antioxidant and calcium blocker, and is also required for ATP production within the mitochondria of the heart muscle cells, it is likely that a correction of Mg deficiency would be an effective strategy to reduce space flight-associated cardiovascular decline and accelerated aging.
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