A doctor has raised more concerns about the health of a stranded NASA astronaut after releasing a bizarre video discussing speculation about her weight.
Sunita Williams, 59, broke her silence on Tuesday to address weight loss ‘rumours’, saying a ‘smooth shift’ caused by microgravity had made her head appear bigger.
During spaceflight, weightlessness instantly moves blood and fluids from the lower part of the body to the upper parts.
But Dr. David Shaker, an internist at Holy Name Physicians in Hackensack, New Jersey, told DailyMail.com that the fluid shift would likely not result in the “decreased nutritional value” seen in recent photos.
Dr. Shaker viewed several images of Williams from the ISS and said she did not appear to have a healthy body weight.
“This seems like low nutritional value, low calorie intake to me,” he said.
Williams also proudly claimed that she had built muscle during her 160-day stay, particularly in her thighs and buttocks. But Dr. Shaker said, “I’d be surprised if that were the case.”
He suggested that Williams’ nutritional deficiency could be the result of physiological symptoms of anxiety or depression resulting from her conditions. But there is no clear evidence to suggest her mental health is suffering.
It looks like Sunita Willimas has lost a dramatic amount of weight while stranded on the ISS. She claimed it was due to fluid shift, which left her face swollen. But doctors claimed her face actually looks ‘guant’. Williams is pictured in September
Williams and her crewmate, NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore, launched toward the ISS on June 5 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
Their mission would last just ten days, eight of which would be spent on the ISS. But due to numerous technical problems with their malfunctioning spacecraft, they are stuck there until February 2025 at the earliest.
Fears for Williams’ health were sparked by an image from September that showed her with what Dr. Vinay Gupta, a pulmonologist and veteran in Seattle, described as a “gaunt” face and “sunken cheeks.”
But NASA’s chief health and medical officer, Dr JD Polk, told DailyMail.com: ‘All NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station are in good health. It’s a shame that otherwise rumors persist.’
“NASA and our partners have safely conducted long-duration missions aboard the Orbital Laboratory for decades, studying the effects of space on the human body as we prepare for explorations further into the solar system.”
‘The crew’s health is regularly monitored by dedicated flight surgeons on Earth, and they have an individualized diet and fitness regime to ensure they stay healthy during their expeditions.’
On Tuesday, Williams gave a live interview from the ISS, in which she answered questions about her time in space and also addressed fears about her health.
“I think there’s rumors going around outside that I’m losing weight and stuff. No, I’m actually right on the same amount,” she said.
The health concerns surfaced when Williams appeared in a September photo with a ‘thin’ face and a thinner frame
‘A lot is changing. You’ve probably heard of a fluid shift where people in space’s heads appear a little bigger because the fluid spreads evenly along the body.’
She went on to say that her workout routine helped her gain some muscle mass while she was on the ISS.
“My thighs are a little bigger, my butt is a little bigger,” she said.
But Williams’ claims contradict what photos appear to show and what doctors know about how the human body is affected by the space station environment.
It is well documented that astronauts tend to lose weight – mainly due to loss of muscle and bone density – during long-duration ISS missions.
Dr. Shaker explained that muscle groups in the legs and buttocks typically shrink in space because they are not constantly pushing against gravity.
Photo was Williams on November 8 during guidance protocols on the International Space Station. NASA insiders claimed she weighed 140 pounds at launch
According to the European Space Agency, astronauts can lose between 10 and 20 percent of their body weight during short missions, and up to 50 percent during long missions.
According to NASA, crew members exercise an average of two hours a day to combat loss of muscle and bone density.
“We used the training equipment,” Williams said in the video, referring to herself and her crewmate, Barry Wilmore.
“We have a bike, we have a treadmill and we have weight lifting equipment.”
“And I could definitely tell that lifting weights, which is something I don’t do all the time, definitely changed me,” she said, adding that her thighs and butt have grown.
All of their fitness equipment has been modified to counteract the effects of microgravity, allowing astronauts to get much the same strengthening benefits from exercising as they would on Earth.
But with all that exercise you burn a lot of calories. Astronauts can burn up to 3,500 calories per day while living on the ISS, which means they have to consume much more food to maintain weight than on Earth.
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams acknowledged ‘rumors’ that she has lost weight, saying this is not true and that she gained muscle during her time on the International Space Station
Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore before their mission on June 5. Williams said she is now the same weight she was at launch
Wilmore (front left) and Williams (front right) pose with the other members of the Expedition 72 crew for a photo posted on October 4
An unnamed NASA employee told the New York Post that Williams has trouble keeping up with the high-calorie diets astronauts must eat.
This is not uncommon on the ISS. Astronauts often struggle to meet their intense nutritional needs for a variety of reasons.
First, food on the ISS can taste bland because upward fluid shift can cause nasal congestion, which blocks astronauts’ sense of taste.
In addition, some astronauts suffer from motion sickness, which causes them to lose their appetite.
And mental health can play a role in this too, Dr. Shaker said.
He explained that months away from her home and loved ones in an isolated, confined space could affect Williams’ eating habits.
She has not mentioned that she suffers from anxiety or depression, but due to her current circumstances, she may be experiencing the physiological symptoms of these mental illnesses.
“We think of anxiety and depression as biochemicals,” says Dr. Shaker.
“Even if you have mental toughness, you can still go through a physiological depression where your mind is low in serotonin and low in dopamine, and that’s a natural response to a stress state.”
‘You have patients who are anxious and depressed and don’t eat because they have no appetite. They can’t tolerate food.’
Despite Williams’ claim that she didn’t lose any weight during her time on the ISS, the anonymous NASA source told the New York Post that “she has lost a lot of weight.”
‘The kilos have fallen off her and she is now skin and bones. So it is a priority to help her stabilize and hopefully reverse the weight loss,” the source said, adding that she may need to eat up to 5,000 calories a day to get back on track.