Bone loss is a well-known medical consequence of disuse such as in long-term space flight. Immobilization in many animals mimics the effects of space flight on bone mineral density. Decreases in metabolism are also thought to contribute to a loss of skeletal mass.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo examine the effects of race and sex on bone density and geometry at specific sites within the proximal femur and lumbar spine, we used quantitative computed tomography to image 30 Caucasian American (CA) men, 25 African American (AA) men, 30 CA women, and 17 AA women aged 35-45 yr. Volumetric integral bone mineral density (BMD), trabecular BMD (tBMD), and cross sectional area were measured in the femoral neck, trochanter, total femur, and L1/L2 vertebrae. Volumetric cortical BMD (cBMD) was also measured in the femur regions of interest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: We studied the effect of re-exposure to Earth's gravity on the proximal femoral BMD and structure of astronauts 1 year after missions lasting 4-6 months. We observed that the readaptation of the proximal femur to Earth's gravity entailed an increase in bone size and an incomplete recovery of volumetric BMD.
Introduction: Bone loss is a well-known result of skeletal unloading in long-duration spaceflight, with the most severe losses occurring in the proximal femur.
Eur J Appl Physiol
January 2005
It is generally held that space travelers experience muscle dysfunction and atrophy during exposure to microgravity. However, observations are scarce and reports somewhat inconsistent with regard to the time course, specificity and magnitude of such changes. Hence, we examined four male astronauts (group mean approximately 43 years, 86 kg and 183 cm) before and after a 17-day spaceflight (Space Transport System-78).
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