Study: Working in space does not reduce age

Although space travel presents astronauts with unknown types of radiation on Earth that can cause cancer and heart disease, a US study suggests that it does not cause premature death.

The researchers compared data from US astronauts and a group of men of the same degree of fitness and wealth and benefited from excellent athletes in health care and professionals.

Astronauts are generally more educated, wealthier and physically fit than other Americans, and previous research has linked this occupation to a reduction in the risk of premature death, the research team wrote in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

But Robert Reynolds, co-author of the California Center for Death Research's study, said many previous studies of astronaut mortality rates did not take into account the mental and physical demands of the profession.

The researchers compared mortality rates of male astronauts and professional basketball and baseball players between 1960 and mid-year.

Astronauts and athletes were less likely to die earlier.

The study found that astronauts are more likely to die from accidents or other external causes and less likely to have heart disease and other natural causes of death.

The results also showed that radiation exposure in space could not lead to premature death in astronauts because of heart problems or certain types of cancer.

The probability of astronauts dying from heart disease was lower than that of professional basketball and baseball players, and the likelihood of cancer deaths was similar between the two groups.

The purpose of the study is not to determine whether space travel has a direct impact on human health or how this effect occurs. He also did not study mortality rates among astronauts and mathematics.