Mineral Metabolism, Nutrition / 02.07.2013
Iron Stores and Bone Loss During Long-Duration Space Flight on the International Space Station
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Scott M. Smith, Ph.D.
Nutritionist, Manager for Nutritional Biochemistry
Biomedical Research and Environmental Sciences Division
NASA Johnson Space Center
Houston, TX 77058
Iron status and its relations with oxidative damage and bone loss during long-duration space flight on the International Space Station
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Smith: The key finding from this study is that the increase in iron stores during spaceflight is related to both oxidative damage and bone loss. Iron stores increase in microgravity because blood volume decreases during the initial weeks of spaceflight. The iron in excess red blood cells is not reused by new RBCs during spaceflight and is stored. This increase in iron stores was associated with increased indices of oxidative damage, and furthermore, the magnitude of the increase in iron stores during flight (i.e., the area under the curve) was correlated with bone mineral density loss. That is, the greater the iron stores, the more bone loss.
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