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Microgravity-Induced Fluid Shift and Ophthalmic Changes

Although changes to visual acuity in spaceflight have been observed in some astronauts since the early days of the space program, the impact to the crew was considered minor. Since that time, missions to the International Space Station have extended the typical duration of time spent in microgravity...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Nelson, Emily S., Mulugeta, Lealem, Myers, Jerry G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4284461/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25387162
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life4040621
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author Nelson, Emily S.
Mulugeta, Lealem
Myers, Jerry G.
author_facet Nelson, Emily S.
Mulugeta, Lealem
Myers, Jerry G.
author_sort Nelson, Emily S.
collection PubMed
description Although changes to visual acuity in spaceflight have been observed in some astronauts since the early days of the space program, the impact to the crew was considered minor. Since that time, missions to the International Space Station have extended the typical duration of time spent in microgravity from a few days or weeks to many months. This has been accompanied by the emergence of a variety of ophthalmic pathologies in a significant proportion of long-duration crewmembers, including globe flattening, choroidal folding, optic disc edema, and optic nerve kinking, among others. The clinical findings of affected astronauts are reminiscent of terrestrial pathologies such as idiopathic intracranial hypertension that are characterized by high intracranial pressure. As a result, NASA has placed an emphasis on determining the relevant factors and their interactions that are responsible for detrimental ophthalmic response to space. This article will describe the Visual Impairment and Intracranial Pressure syndrome, link it to key factors in physiological adaptation to the microgravity environment, particularly a cephalad shifting of bodily fluids, and discuss the implications for ocular biomechanics and physiological function in long-duration spaceflight.
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spelling pubmed-42844612015-01-21 Microgravity-Induced Fluid Shift and Ophthalmic Changes Nelson, Emily S. Mulugeta, Lealem Myers, Jerry G. Life (Basel) Review Although changes to visual acuity in spaceflight have been observed in some astronauts since the early days of the space program, the impact to the crew was considered minor. Since that time, missions to the International Space Station have extended the typical duration of time spent in microgravity from a few days or weeks to many months. This has been accompanied by the emergence of a variety of ophthalmic pathologies in a significant proportion of long-duration crewmembers, including globe flattening, choroidal folding, optic disc edema, and optic nerve kinking, among others. The clinical findings of affected astronauts are reminiscent of terrestrial pathologies such as idiopathic intracranial hypertension that are characterized by high intracranial pressure. As a result, NASA has placed an emphasis on determining the relevant factors and their interactions that are responsible for detrimental ophthalmic response to space. This article will describe the Visual Impairment and Intracranial Pressure syndrome, link it to key factors in physiological adaptation to the microgravity environment, particularly a cephalad shifting of bodily fluids, and discuss the implications for ocular biomechanics and physiological function in long-duration spaceflight. MDPI 2014-11-07 /pmc/articles/PMC4284461/ /pubmed/25387162 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life4040621 Text en © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Nelson, Emily S.
Mulugeta, Lealem
Myers, Jerry G.
Microgravity-Induced Fluid Shift and Ophthalmic Changes
title Microgravity-Induced Fluid Shift and Ophthalmic Changes
title_full Microgravity-Induced Fluid Shift and Ophthalmic Changes
title_fullStr Microgravity-Induced Fluid Shift and Ophthalmic Changes
title_full_unstemmed Microgravity-Induced Fluid Shift and Ophthalmic Changes
title_short Microgravity-Induced Fluid Shift and Ophthalmic Changes
title_sort microgravity-induced fluid shift and ophthalmic changes
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4284461/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25387162
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life4040621
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