Red blood cell and iron metabolism during space flight.

Scott M Smith

Journal: Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.) 2003;18(10):864-6

PMID: 12361780

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

Space flight anemia is a widely recognized phenomenon in astronauts. Reduction in circulating red blood cells and plasma volume results in a 10% to 15% decrement in circulatory volume. This effect appears to be a normal physiologic adaptation to weightlessness and results from the removal of newly released blood cells from the circulation. Iron availability increases, and (in the few subjects studied) iron stores increase during long-duration space flight. The consequences of these changes are not fully understood.

Address: Human Adaptation and Countermeasures Office, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77058, USA. [email protected]; NASA JSC

DOI: 10.1016/s0899-9007(02)00912-7

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MeSH Terms: Adaptation, Physiological, Anemia, Astronauts, Blood Volume, Erythrocytes, Erythropoiesis, Humans, Iron, Plasma Volume, Space Flight, Weightlessness