title: The impact of microgravity on bone in humans.
abstract: Experiencing real weightlessness in space is a dream for many of us who are interested in space research. Although space traveling fascinates us, it can cause both short-term and long-term health problems. Microgravity is the most important influence on the human organism in space. The human body undergoes dramatic changes during a long-term spaceflight. In this review, we will mainly focus on changes in calcium, sodium and bone metabolism of space travelers. Moreover, we report on the current knowledge on the mechanisms of bone loss in space, available models to simulate the effects of microgravity on bone on Earth as well as the combined effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation on bone. The available countermeasures applied in space will also be evaluated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. Electronic address: dgg@biomed.au.dk.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grimm
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine Germany, University of Regensburg, D-93042 Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jirka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grosse
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Plastic, Aesthetic and Hand Surgery, Otto-von-Guericke University, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wehland
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Texas Southern University, 3100 Cleburne, Houston, TX 77004, USA.
authors.forename: Vivek
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, N-0317 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Janne Elin
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Reseland
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Texas Southern University, 3100 Cleburne, Houston, TX 77004, USA.
authors.forename: Alamelu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sundaresan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Thomas Juhl
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Corydon
mesh_terms: D001862:Bone Resorption / Q000473:pathology; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism; D013026:Space Flight; D014893:Weightlessness
chemical_list: D012964:Sodium; D002118:Calcium
keywords: Bone loss; Calcium; Countermeasures; Metabolism; Microgravity