Guest: Dr. William (Bill) Rowe. Topics: Part 2 of 3 regarding vascular complications of spaceflight and applying these principles to our own health. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Dr. Rowe returned for Part 2 of his 3 part series on The Space Show in which he goes into great detail regarding human spaceflight, vascular complications, and how we take care of ourselves here on Earth. To learn more about Dr. Rowe and his work, visit his website, www.femsinspace.com. You can follow along on his site with this discussion as he directs us to various pages on his website applicable to the discussion. Dr. Rowe began the first segment by talking about the Apollo 15 astronauts, specifically James Irwin given that Mr. Irwin suffered a series of heart attacks after his return from the Moon. Dr. Rowe spent much time during examining the why of these heart attacks, health condition on the Moon and on the way back, blood pressure and other issues. He also told us about Irwin's expeditions to Mount Ararat in Turkey in search of Noah's Ark. As this was a longer than usual segment, in the latter part Dr. Rowe talked about Space Adaptation Syndrome, and he described the Apollo 15 Space Syndrome. We talked about obesity as a risk factor and as a risk factor here on Earth. Dr. Rowe introduced us to the term hypokinesia and its relationship to space travel. As this segment ended, we talked about dehydration, magnesium, exercise protocols, and heart rate issues. Check out the comparison of Irwin's and crew member Dave Scott's heart rates on the first Apollo 15 lunar excursion at www.femsinspace.com/comparison.htm as Dr. Rowe had much to say about these heart rates. As we started the second segment, Dr. Rowe continued discussing heart rate issues, sleep deprivation, the use of Vitamin D3 and pharmaceuticals in space. He then introduced us to the subject of gene therapy for human spaceflight, starting with the replacement or modification of four specific genes and then working upwards from that point based on results and more data. When asked about a time line for being able to do gene therapy, he said it was unknown at this time as we were not there yet, but he repeated many times during the segment that he saw no solution to the problems regarding long duration human spaceflight except for gene therapy. Later in the segment, he talked about plasma and pharmaceutical issues in microgravity and repeated his opinion that only 1 G would work for humans regarding the longer missions. In the third and final segment, we talked about space tourism. He expressed his concern for middle age, fat, couch potatoes using medicines here on Earth and the impact of spaceflight on these people. Later in the segment, as a result of my questioning, he separated out suborbital tourism from orbital tourism issues. Regarding suborbital tourism, he mentioned the stress on the heart with the reentry G force which could cause a cardiac event real time or back on Earth. You do not want to miss what he had to say about this risk factor along with informed consent. During this part of our discussion, he cited several references and papers which you can find on his website per his directions, plus in various reviewed journals. In his concluding remarks, he talked about humans having 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the body and much of what he talked about today being a "silent" killer, even here on Earth! As you will hear, Dr. Rowe is not an advocate of taking medicines but instead of having a proper diet, exercise, and sleep to maximize our health and longevity. If you have questions for Dr. Bill Rowe, post them on the blog URL above. His email: drrowe@femsinspace.com.