William Atkins
Friday, 10 July 2009 20:04
Science -
Health
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To learn more about why bones and muscles, such as the heart, deteriorate while in space, and what we can do to counter this deterioration, NASA has set up its new study called Integrated Cardiovascular.
Its full name is a mouth full: “Cardiac Atrophy and Diastolic Dysfunction During and After Long Duration Spaceflight: Functional Consequences for Orthostatic Intolerance, Exercise Capability and Risk for Cardiac Arrhythmias (Integrated Cardiovascular).” (I don’t know if NASA made this into an acronym but if it did the acronym would be “CADDDALDS:FCOIECRCA.” Let’s use Integrated Cardiovascular, or IC for short.)
Julie Robinson, a program scientist (at the Johnson Space Center) for the International Space Station, states,
"We know that astronauts lose heart mass and exercise capacity when they're in microgravity for a long time. We suspect that this could lead to impaired heart function, which could cause low blood pressure and even fainting when astronauts get back to gravity. But we need detailed information. In the future, astronauts will spend longer and longer in space, and even live and work on the moon and Mars. We want to know exactly how space-living will affect their hearts and heart function."
Dr. Levine is being assistance in this study by Dr. Michael Bungo, of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, along with several other cardiovascular experts in the country. The Integrated Cardiovascular study is considered by NASA as the
“… most comprehensive and advanced study of its kind to date.”
Dr. Levine, summarizes the study,
"We're investigating how, how much, and how fast deterioration occurs in the heart during long duration space travel.”
Please go to the NASA article “
The Beating Heart, Minus Gravity,” as mentioned earlier, to see a computer-generated diagram of the Integrated Cardiovascular study being performed on the International Space Station.
The two-year study will be conducted with the help of ISS crewmembers as subjects. Over these two years, approximately twelve astronauts will take part in the study.
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