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Article: Even astronauts are susceptible to "bends". (Decompression Sickness).(medical research)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
- Article from:
- USA TODAY
- Article date:
- October 1, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Society for the Advancement of Education. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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From the depths of the ocean to deep space, the same type of medical treatment given to divers for the bends may prove useful to astronauts during the construction of the international space station, says Richard E. Moon, an anesthesiologist from Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. The bends, also known as gas bubble disease or decompression sickness, occurs when divers, aviators, or astronauts move too quickly from higher to lower atmospheric pressures.
Working outside the international space station in spacesuits elevates astronauts' risk of decompression sickness, Moon indicates, since the transition from the stations to a space suit rapidly lowers ...