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Space Shuttle inflight and postflight fluid shifts measured by leg volume changesThis is a study of the inflight and postflight leg volume changes associated with spaceflight on Space Shuttle missions. The results show an inflight volume loss of 2 l from the lower extremities, 1 l from each leg, representing an 11.6 percent volume change. The vast majority of this change appears to be a shift in body fluids, both intravascular and extravascular. The fluid shift occurs mostly on Mission Day One and is essentially complete by 6 to 10 hr. The regional origin of shift and leg volume changes shows a far greater absolute volume (708 ml vs. 318 ml) and percentage (69 percent vs. 31 percent) of the total change coming from the higher as compared to the lower leg. Postflight, the return of fluid to the lower extremities occurs rapidly with the majority of volume return complete within 1.5 hr postlanding. At 1 week postflight, there is a residual leg volume decrement of 283 ml or 3.2 percent that is probably due to tissue loss secondary to atrophic deconditioning and weight loss.
Document ID
19880025740
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Moore, Thomas P.
(NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Thornton, William E.
(Methodist Hospital of Indiana, Indianapolis; NASA, Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 13, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 1987
Publication Information
Publication: Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine
Volume: 58
ISSN: 0095-6562
Subject Category
Aerospace Medicine
Accession Number
88A12967
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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