The microgravity environment experienced on the ISS is not where humans best survive. Almost immediately upon entry to the environment, the bones and muscles within the human body begin to break down. Muscle loss is able to be mostly prevented through exercise, though the routines practiced in orbit are not enough compared to the day-to-day use that their Earth-bound counterparts experience. Bone loss has proven to be an even bigger struggle as skeletal repair system and its prompts are still not completely understood. Today, astronauts use a combination of workout devices to simulate the loads regularly experienced on Earth. Since these are insufficient, further research is being conducted into suits designed to provide the same pressure
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Instead, the issue might lie with the vigorousness of the exercise. In 1990, a head down bed rest was conducted that examined the bone loss of its participants compared to the measured loss of those aboard the space station MIR. It was found that the bed-ridden participants experienced a bone loss similar to those astronauts aboard MIR. Furthermore, the astronauts were a part of a moderate exercise routine, where the bed members were not (LeBlanc, et al., 2000). These results showed that the as-then-current methods of exercise were not sufficient in properly preventing bone loss. In 2004, another horizontal bed study was completed, this time with only earth-bound subjects. In this study, all members were placed on horizontal bed rest with no exercise for 17 weeks while the test group additionally performed a ‘maximal resistance exercise’ program throughout the experiment. At the end of the experiment, the ones who performed the exercise did see a bone loss, but the loss was significantly less than what the control group had experienced (Shackelford, et al., 2004). The results, then seemed to show that resistance exercises were a very real possibility as a bone loss deterrent and experimentation has …show more content…
These tables are stood upon by the astronauts for 10-20 minutes while a light vibration of roughly 90 Hz, or 90 cycles per second, runs through (NASA, 2001). In the microgravity environment, the participants would be held down by an elastic band so as to avoid floating away. Early trials in conducted in 2001 showed positive results and have led to further research on the topic. The 2001 study placed rats in a simulated microgravity environment by suspending their hind legs in the air for the majority of the day. Their legs were only bearing a load for 10 minutes a day with one group of the rodents receiving vibration therapy, and another bearing a standard load. A third group saw full, 24/7 hind leg suspension. When compared, the third group of rodents saw the most extreme Bone Formation Rate (BFR) decrease of 92%, while the standard load rats saw a BFR decrease of 61%. The rats that underwent vibration therapy saw BFR “normalized BFR to values seen in age-matched controls” (Rubin, Xu, & Judex, 2001). This experiment has been redone by multiple agencies with their own variations; one of the most recent rat-based studies has shown that it’s possible astronauts do not need daily activity with the vibration plates since their subjects only used the devices for 15 minutes, once per week, every other week (Huang, et al., 2015). Recent human studies have shown that
Instead, the issue might lie with the vigorousness of the exercise. In 1990, a head down bed rest was conducted that examined the bone loss of its participants compared to the measured loss of those aboard the space station MIR. It was found that the bed-ridden participants experienced a bone loss similar to those astronauts aboard MIR. Furthermore, the astronauts were a part of a moderate exercise routine, where the bed members were not (LeBlanc, et al., 2000). These results showed that the as-then-current methods of exercise were not sufficient in properly preventing bone loss. In 2004, another horizontal bed study was completed, this time with only earth-bound subjects. In this study, all members were placed on horizontal bed rest with no exercise for 17 weeks while the test group additionally performed a ‘maximal resistance exercise’ program throughout the experiment. At the end of the experiment, the ones who performed the exercise did see a bone loss, but the loss was significantly less than what the control group had experienced (Shackelford, et al., 2004). The results, then seemed to show that resistance exercises were a very real possibility as a bone loss deterrent and experimentation has …show more content…
These tables are stood upon by the astronauts for 10-20 minutes while a light vibration of roughly 90 Hz, or 90 cycles per second, runs through (NASA, 2001). In the microgravity environment, the participants would be held down by an elastic band so as to avoid floating away. Early trials in conducted in 2001 showed positive results and have led to further research on the topic. The 2001 study placed rats in a simulated microgravity environment by suspending their hind legs in the air for the majority of the day. Their legs were only bearing a load for 10 minutes a day with one group of the rodents receiving vibration therapy, and another bearing a standard load. A third group saw full, 24/7 hind leg suspension. When compared, the third group of rodents saw the most extreme Bone Formation Rate (BFR) decrease of 92%, while the standard load rats saw a BFR decrease of 61%. The rats that underwent vibration therapy saw BFR “normalized BFR to values seen in age-matched controls” (Rubin, Xu, & Judex, 2001). This experiment has been redone by multiple agencies with their own variations; one of the most recent rat-based studies has shown that it’s possible astronauts do not need daily activity with the vibration plates since their subjects only used the devices for 15 minutes, once per week, every other week (Huang, et al., 2015). Recent human studies have shown that