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Skeletal Adaptation to Daily Activity: A Biochemical PerspectiveMusculoskeletal forces generated by normal daily activity on Earth maintain the functional and structural properties of muscle and bone throughout most of one's adult life. A reduction in the level of cumulative daily loading caused by space flight, bed rest or spinal cord injury induces rapid muscle atrophy, functional changes in muscle, and bone resorption in regions subjected to the reduced loading. Bone cells in culture and bone tissue reportedly respond to a wide variety of non-mechanical and mechanical stimuli ranging, from electromagnetic fields, and hormones to small amplitude, high frequency vibrations, fluid flow, strain rate, and stress/strain magnitude. However, neither the transduction mechanism that transforms the mechanical input into a muscle or bone metabolic response nor the characteristics, of the loading history that directly or indirectly stimulates the cell is known. Identifying the factors contributing to the input stimulus will have a major impact on the design of effective countermeasures for long duration space flight. This talk will present a brief overview of current theories of bone remodeling and functional adaptation to mechanical loading. Work from our lab will be presented from the perspective of daily cumulative loading on Earth and its relationship to bone density and structure. Our objective is to use the tibia and calcaneus as model bone sites of cortical and cancellous bone adaptation, loaded daily by musculoskeletal forces in equilibrium with the ground reaction force. All materials that will be discussed are in the open scientific literature.
Document ID
20020069150
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Whalen, Robert T.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Dalton, Bonnie
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2002
Subject Category
Aerospace Medicine
Meeting Information
Meeting: Annual International Society of Gravitational Physiology Meeting
Country: United States
Start Date: June 2, 2002
End Date: June 7, 2002
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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