title: The prevention of adverse physiological change in Space Station crewmembers.
abstract: Various physiological countermeasures, consisting primarily of isotonic and isometric exercises but also including prescribed nutrient intake, have been used in all manned spaceflights exceeding about one month in duration.  So consistent has been this practice that the effects of weightlessness on the human, unconfounded by the use of countermeasures, are difficult to discern.  Equally elusive, in the absence of control studies conducted in weightlessness, is an accurate assessment of the efficacy of the countermeasures themselves.  Changes in body composition occurring during and following flights from Gemini through Shuttle, when compared with changes during and following bedrest, demonstrate certain mitigating effects that may be attributable to countermeasures and which provide some rationale for the choice of countermeasures in the Space Station.
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Rambaut
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D001823:Body Composition; D018488:Bone Demineralization, Pathologic / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004035:Diet Therapy / Q000592:standards; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000592:standards; D005440:Fluid Therapy / Q000592:standards; D005676:Gravity Suits; D006801:Humans; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D013026:Space Flight; D018489:Space Motion Sickness / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control; D014893:Weightlessness / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018544:Weightlessness Countermeasures