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Selected Publication:
Possnig, C.
Effects of Artificial Gravity Exposure on Orthostatic Tolerance Times in Men and Women
Humanmedizin; [ Diplomarbeit ] Medical University of Graz; 2014. pp. 56
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- Authors Med Uni Graz:
- Advisor:
- Goswami Nandu
- Hinghofer-Szalkay Helmut
- Altmetrics:
- Abstract:
- During long-term spaceflights, an astronaut‘s body adapts to microgravity. Once the astronaut returns to Earth he/she is suddenly exposed to gravity again, and the changes in the cardiovascular system which happened due to the absence of gravity now often lead to syncope. The main aim of this study was to find out whether an artificial gravity (AG) training with using a short-arm human centrifuge would increase the orthostatic tolerance time and consequently delay syncope. In seven healthy men and five healthy women, orthostatic tolerance time (OTT) was determined twice, pre- and post-AG exposure. First, microgravity was simulated with a head down tilt for 60 minutes, followed by centrifuge training for about 90 minutes and a 70.2° head up tilt with lower body negative pressure, to ascertain the individual OTT. 28 days later, the same experiment took place, but without the centrifuge training. The two OTTs were then compared in order to find out if centrifuge training (on e.g. the International Space Station [ISS]) would benefit astronauts and diminish the rates of syncope upon returning to gravity. The resulting times showed an average increase of OTT of 2.7 minutes after AG training. Women improved their OTTs to an average 13.6 minutes (from 9.2 minutes without centrifuge training), while men started with an average of 12.9 minutes OTT, improving it to an average 15.6 minutes after centrifuge training. The P-values resulting from the ANOVA analysis are 0.0019 (when comparing AG training to non AG training) and 0.0352 (when comparing men and women). We concluded that centrifuge training would increase the orthostatic tolerance time in both men and women. Our results seem to suggest that the occurrence of syncope in returning astronauts could be reduced by performing centrifuge training in space.