Space is beautiful and f**ked up all at the same time. Man obviously was NOT designed to be in space, otherwise we wouldn't instantly explode if exposed to open space. Through some sort of miracle however, we've developed the technology to dance among the stars, in hopes of finding another planet to destroy. Not without mentioning, the rigors of space do some messed up sh*t to the human body.
A recent study says that astronauts being sent out on both short-term and long-term missions, are mysteriously coming back to earth with herpes, among other things.
The results of this study, from the journal Frontiers of Microbiology, indicates that more than half of the space explorers sent into orbit over the years have returned with some kind of inexplicable STD like space herpes. Of course I'm kidding when I say space herpes, but space may be the overall cause of the herpes. Astronauts are also returning with other nasty diseases like chicken pox, shingles, and Epstein-Barr.
While these astronauts aren't catching these viruses from the environment (or lack thereof) in space, the stress on the human body of being in space is most likely causing latent or dormant viruses to become active and grow in the body.
The study suggests that interstellar travel likely depletes the immune system and allows diseases to “wake up” and thrive while the body struggles to survive under the conditions. All the while, astronauts are having to explain to their significant others that they were not f**king other people in outer space. In full disclosure, it should be pointed out that researchers are really only speculating that stress is the contributing factor in this uptick of space herpes. NASA actually has no cold hard facts to support this theory.
Thus, another challenge for space programs to keep our initial Mars colonies from looking like a MedExpress waiting room.
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