title: Postmission plasma volume and red-cell mass changes in the crews of the first two Skylab missions.
abstract: Red-cell mass determinations were performed before and after the first two Skylab missions. The data showed a 14% mean decrease in red-cell mass after the 28-day mission and a 12% mean decrease after the 59-day mission. The red-cell mass returned to premission levels more slowly after the shorter (28-day) than after the longer mission. Plasma volume decreases were found after each mission. with the crew from the longer mission showing the greater change (13% vs. 8.4%). Postmission decreases in red-cell mass and plasma volume have been a general finding in crewmen who return from short or long spaceflight.
authors.affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Kimzey
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Driscoll
mesh_terms: D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D002860:Chromium Radioisotopes; D004905:Erythrocyte Aging; D004911:Erythrocyte Volume / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010953:Plasma Volume / Q000502:physiology*; D017701:Reticulocyte Count; D012156:Reticulocytes / Q000502:physiology; D013026:Space Flight; D013997:Time Factors; D014893:Weightlessness
chemical_list: D002860:Chromium Radioisotopes