April 28, 2024

Space’s Hidden Toll: New Research Could Improve Health in Space and on Earth

The new study included MRI scans of the astronauts bone marrow at multiple time points before and after a six-month objective at the International Space Station. The scientists discovered a 4.2 percent reduction in bone marrow fat about a month after returning to Earth. Anemia prevents their ability to exercise and recuperate muscle and bone mass. “Our research might likewise shed light on diseases such as osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, aging, and cancer, which are associated with increases in bone marrow fat.”

” Thankfully, anemia isnt a problem in area when your body is weightless, however when landing on Earth and potentially on other worlds or moons with gravity, anemia would affect energy, endurance, and strength and might threaten mission objectives,” stated Dr. Trudel. “If we can learn precisely whats managing this anemia, we may be able to improve prevention and treatment.”
The new study involved MRI scans of the astronauts bone marrow at multiple time points before and after a six-month mission at the International Space Station. The scientists found a 4.2 percent decline in bone marrow fat about a month after going back to Earth. This gradually returned to regular levels and was carefully connected with increased production of red blood cells and restoration of bone.
” Since red cell are made in the bone marrow and bone cells surround the bone marrow, it makes good sense that the body would use up the regional bone marrow fat as a source of energy to fuel red blood cell and bone production,” said Dr. Trudel. “We eagerly anticipate examining this even more in different scientific conditions in the world.”
The research study also recommends that more youthful astronauts may have an increased ability to harness the energy from bone marrow fat and that female astronauts bone marrow fat increased more than anticipated after a year.
As a rehab doctor, many of Dr. Trudels patients are anemic and have lost muscle and bone mass after being ill for a very long time with restricted mobility. Anemia prevents their ability to recuperate and work out muscle and bone mass. “Im hopeful that this research study will assist individuals recover from immobility in the world in addition to in area,” said Dr. Trudel. “Our research might likewise clarify illness such as osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, aging, and cancer, which are connected with increases in bone marrow fat.”
Reference: “Bone marrow adiposity modulation after long period of time spaceflight in astronauts” by Tammy Liu, Gerd Melkus, Tim Ramsay, Adnan Sheikh, Odette Laneuville and Guy Trudel, 9 August 2023, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-023-40572-8.
Dr. Trudel just recently got the 2023 Compelling Results Award for Human Health in Space for his research study on area anemia, collectively presented by NASA, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, and the American Astronautical Society.
The MARROW study is moneyed by the Canadian Space Agency. Dr. Scott Smith and the NASA Biochemical Profile Protocol offered support. The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine have actually likewise supported this research study through the Ottawa Methods Centre and Blueprint Translational Research Groups Excelerator program.

Current research exposes that area travel leads to the loss of red blood cells and bone, once back in the world, the body can utilize fat saved in the bone marrow to replenish these losses. The research, which belonged to the MARROW experiment, might have ramifications for the treatment of anemia, osteoporosis, and other diseases in the world.
Space travel lowers red cell and bone density, nevertheless, bone marrow fat might offer a solution.
Research study on 14 astronauts suggests that although area voyages lower red cell count and bone density, the body can recover these losses as soon as back in the world, with the assistance of fat stored in the bone marrow. The research study, published in Nature Communications, has essential implications for health in space and in the world.
” We discovered that astronauts had significantly less fat in their bone marrow about a month after returning to Earth,” said senior research study author Dr. Guy Trudel, a rehab physician and scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and teacher at the University of Ottawa. “We believe the body is using this fat to help replace red blood cells and reconstruct bone that has actually been lost during area travel.”
This study builds on Dr. Trudels previous research study which showed that throughout space travel, astronauts bodies damaged 54 percent more red cell than they generally would on Earth, leading to what is referred to as “space anemia.” This research belongs to MARROW, a made-in-Ottawa experiment looking at bone marrow health and blood production in area, with financing from the Canadian Space Agency.