Nutrients 2012, 4(12), 2047-2068; doi:10.3390/nu4122047
Space Flight Calcium: Implications for Astronaut Health, Spacecraft Operations, and Earth
1
Human Health and Performance Directorate, NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
2
Wyle Science, Technology & Engineering Group, Houston, TX 77058, USA
3
Oak Ridge Associated Universities/NASA Post-Doctoral Fellow, NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
4
Profil Institut fĂĽr Stoffwechselforschung GmbH, Hellersbergstrasse 9, 41460 Neuss, Germany
5
University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
6
Division of Space Life Sciences, Universities Space Research Association, Houston, TX 77058, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 11 October 2012 / Revised: 13 November 2012 / Accepted: 10 December 2012 / Published: 18 December 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Calcium)
Abstract
The space flight environment is known to induce bone loss and, subsequently, calcium loss. The longer the mission, generally the more bone and calcium are lost. This review provides a history of bone and calcium studies related to space flight and highlights issues related to calcium excretion that the space program must consider so that urine can be recycled. It also discusses a novel technique using natural stable isotopes of calcium that will be helpful in the future to determine calcium and bone balance during space flight.Keywords:
bed rest; bone; calcium; collagen crosslinks; dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; space flight
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Smith, S.M.; McCoy, T.; Gazda, D.; Morgan, J.L.L.; Heer, M.; Zwart, S.R. Space Flight Calcium: Implications for Astronaut Health, Spacecraft Operations, and Earth. Nutrients 2012, 4, 2047-2068.
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