Sickness – Questions and answers with David Saint-Jacques live from space

Uploaded on April 15, 2019

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Sickness – Questions and answers with David Saint-Jacques live from space

2019-04-15 - During the launch of the Astro Pi Challenge in Canada, Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques answers the following question, live from the International Space Station: When you're sick in space, how does your body react? (Credits: Canadian Space Agency, NASA)

Text: When you're sick in space, how does your body react? - Gavin

David Saint-Jacques: If you hit yourself, if you bleed, the blood will not fall. It will stay there. So, it's more – well, it's different.

Generally speaking, there are a lot of similarities between different sicknesses. So, how do we treat them up here? We have a small medicine kit. Everyone on board is trained. I am a doctor, but not all astronauts are doctors. But those who are not, are all trained to be able to respond to medical emergencies. So, we are all in good hands. We have what we need to respond to major heart problems, fractures, to take care of cuts, electrical shocks, chemical issues – we've got antibiotics. So, we are pretty well equipped.

But the most important thing, of course, is to be careful. We are careful not to get sick. We are cautious not to get infections. We're quarantined before we travel to space. We are very careful here on board, not to hurt ourselves. And that's about it.

Obviously, the most important thing if we want to stay healthy, is to be careful and respect our bodies.

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