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Astronauts' Hearts Protected by Exercise and Echocardiograms in Space Study
Developing
In Short: A new study published in Circulation shows that exercise and echocardiograms helped protect astronauts' hearts during long-duration space missions, addressing concerns about cardiovascular health on Mars.
In their paper published Tuesday in Circulation, an international team reports results from 13 astronauts who performed onboard echocardiograms during their six months in space, revealing how long-duration spaceflight affects cardiac size and function.
The imaging showed mild but transient changes in the heart when moving from Earth gravity to microgravity, and further changes when exposed to Martian gravity simulations.
Benjamin Levine, director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas, stated, 'The single most novel thing that we showed was that after six months in space, when you come back down to Earth and then are exposed to three-eighths gravity, which is the gravitational gradient that we will experience on Mars, that nobody, not a single astronaut, had a cardiovascular response that was more stressed than the upright posture on Earth before they went.
Previous research had used blood pressure and heart rate to infer heart function, but this study emphasizes the importance of direct cardiac imaging and exercise regimens in maintaining heart health during space missions.
What's still developing
- Beyond the temporary dizziness astronauts can experience after returning to land, there were concerns about how their health and performance might be affected when they first stepped onto Mars to begin their work there.
- Because astronauts are typically middle-aged men and women, Levine said, the most likely cause of a catastrophic medical problem would be a cardiovascular event.
- That’s what the NASA exercise scientists are working on right now — it’s not really for me to determine.
- Keeping astronauts healthy, especially their hearts, has driven Benjamin Levine’s career as a top consulting cardiologist to NASA.
- Now that a Mars mission is on the horizon, his most recent research continues to test how well exercise maintains the heart’s structure and function during prolonged spaceflight.
- The authors credit exercise regimens for protecting the astronauts’ hearts from prolonged time in space and in a simulation of Mars-like low gravity.
- That’s where exercise and strength training can come in.
Sources
- STATlink