With seats onboard Virgin Galactic costing US$450,000 (RM2,105,550), space tourism remains a literal flight of fantasy for most people. And even such well-heeled amateur astronauts would do well to bone up on the potential health impacts of space flight. If recent experiments on rats are anything to go by, a successful rocket launch may lead to erectile dysfunction in male passengers. And the results suggest that men would be best advised to go to great lengths to avoid space travel, which can “negatively affect vascular tissues relevant to erectile dysfunction, even after a period of long-term recovery”. Erectile dysfunction, or impotence, affects an estimated half of men at some stage of their lives, usually in their middle or later years, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Source: The Star December 04, 2023 09:55 UTC