An intervention used to treat astronauts has relevance for people on the ground with medical conditions that cause repeated fainting, researchers say.
Astronauts newly returned to Earth commonly have episodes of lightheadedness and fainting. But researchers have found in the past that daily exercise in space and intravenous saline solution to boost blood volume upon landing seem to prevent these episodes under test conditions.In the new study, 12 crew members from the International Space Station had their heart function and blood pressure assessed before, during and after a six-month stint in space, researchers report in Circulation.
The longer one spends in a gravity-free environment, the greater the risk of fainting during normal activities upon return to regular conditions, senior study author Dr. Benjamin Levine told Reuters Health.Similar to getting up after extended bed rest, returning to gravity brings about changes to blood flow and sometimes causes orthostatic hypotension, or a temporary drop in blood pressure upon standing up, he explained.
In 2011, Levine, who has studied astronaut rehabilitation since the early 1990s, treated a 27-year-old POTS patient, Julie Christoph. He advised her to follow a medication-free regimen that included a tailored exercise program to condition the heart and a high-salt diet . Although Levine's latest astronaut study considered data from just 12 people, it's promising, said Dr. Prashant Vaishnava, a cardiologist at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City who wasn't involved in the study. But adapting the astronauts' regimen to real-world situations could be challenging, he cautioned.
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