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Clinical Autonomic Research
Published in: Clinical Autonomic Research 3/2018

01-06-2018 | Research Article

Modeling human orthostatic responses on the Moon and on Mars

Authors: Paula Beck, Jens Tank, Peter Gauger, Luis E. J. Beck, Hubert Zirngibl, Jens Jordan, Ulrich Limper

Published in: Clinical Autonomic Research | Issue 3/2018

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Abstract

Purpose

Since manned missions to the Moon and Mars are planned, we conducted active standing tests with lunar, Martian, terrestrial, and 1.8 loads of inertial resistance (+Gz) modeled through defined parabolic flight maneuvers. We hypothesized that the cardiovascular response to active standing is proportional to the +Gz load.

Methods

During partial-+Gz parabolic flights, 14 healthy test subjects performed active stand-up maneuvers under 1 +Gz, lunar (0.16 +Gz), Martian (0.38 +Gz), and hyper inertial resistance (1.8 +Gz) while heart rate and finger blood pressure were continuously monitored. We quantified amplitudes and timing of orthostatic response immediately following standing up.

Results

The maximum early heart rate increase was 21 (SD ± 10) bpm with lunar, 23 (± 11) bpm with Martian, 34 (± 17) bpm with terrestrial +Gz, and 40 (± 11) bpm hyper +Gz. The time to maximum heart rate increased gradually with increasing loads of inertial resistance. The transient blood pressure reduction was most pronounced with hyper +Gz but did not differ significantly between lunar and Martian +Gz. The mean arterial pressure nadir was reached significantly later with Martian and lunar compared to 1 +Gz. Paradoxically, the time for blood pressure to recover was shortest with terrestrial +Gz.

Conclusion

While load of inertial resistance directly affects the magnitude of the transient blood pressure reduction and heart rate response to active standing, blood pressure stabilization is most rapidly attained during terrestrial +Gz. The observation might suggest that the human cardiovascular system is tuned to cope with orthostatic stress on earth.
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Metadata
Title
Modeling human orthostatic responses on the Moon and on Mars
Authors
Paula Beck
Jens Tank
Peter Gauger
Luis E. J. Beck
Hubert Zirngibl
Jens Jordan
Ulrich Limper
Publication date
01-06-2018
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Clinical Autonomic Research / Issue 3/2018
Print ISSN: 0959-9851
Electronic ISSN: 1619-1560
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-018-0527-x

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