Taikonauts to take traditional Chinese medicines in Shenzhou-7 spaceflight
25/9/2008 17:16
China's Shenzhou-7 astronauts will take traditional Chinese medicine in
their spaceflight to treat space motion sickness, a doctor with the astronauts
training center said today.
The medicine, prepared in capsule forms, is
called "Taikong Yangxin (space heart-nourishing) Capsule". It can be diluted
with water and taken to treat motion sickness in the space flight, said Li
Yongzhi, director of medical department of the China Astronaut Research and
Training Center.
"It is made of more than ten types of Chinese herbs, and has
proven to be effective in improving the astronauts' cardiovascular conditions,"
she said.
The medicines are specially developed remedies for the mission, Li
said. They have passed pathological and clinical tests and have been approved by
the government supervising authorities.
Li and her colleagues have been
working with China's first generation of astronauts for a decade. They collated
their physical data during training and space flights, and concocted different
prescriptions for each astronaut.
Taikonauts Yang Liwei, Fei Junlong and Nie
Haisheng, who flew in 2003 and 2005, took the herbal medicines before and after
their spaceflight but not during their space missions.
The medications they
took, including herbal tea, enabled them to sleep better and recuperate between
training sessions, doctors with the center said.
"Compared with the western
medicine, the traditional Chinese medicine has less side effects, and can help
taikonauts recover from stress and fatigue," she said.
The three Shenzhou-7
taikonauts Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng are scheduled to take off
between 9:07 pm and 10:27 pm today. The highlight of their mission is a
spacewalk.
Li said the pills on the spacecraft will be particularly useful
for the two astronauts who are scheduled to carry out the extra-vehicular
activities. "The medicine will boost their physical conditions and improve their
adaptability in an extreme environment," she said.
Li said that the
medications will be mass-produced for market sales in the future.
Xinhua
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