Space Medicine for Terrestrials

As humanity entered the era of manned spaceflights, it had to look for answers to such questions as how humans can cope with space overloads and how long they can live and work in the weightless environment of space.
On the initiative of the designer of spacecraft Sergey Korolyov and the President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences Mstislav Keldysh, an institute of space medicine and biology was set up in 1963 to conduct more extensive biomedcal research and create new medical equipment and life-supporting systems.

At present this national research centre, the Institute for Medico-Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is a recognized world leader specializing in the medical aspects of life and work in the extreme conditions of spaceflight, deep-water submersion, and harsh climatic and geographical zones on Earth's surface, and also in areas hit by catastrophes and natural disasters.
The Institute's priorities include biomedical support for space crews and research on manned space stations and automatic space vehicles.
During the 15 years of its existence the first international space laboratory, the Mir station, carried out 1,759 biomedical experiments to investigate the impact of zero gravity and other space factors on humans and animals. It proved that in conditions of zero gravity, living organisms can go through the full cycle of their development.

The results of research done by the Institute have been widely used in the medical preparation of athletes for the Olympic Games and world and European championships in soccer, hockey, chess, rowing, bobsledding, cycling, and other sports

The Institute's findings made possible missions of long duration on the Salyut and Mir orbital stations. One staffer, physician and cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, spent 438 days in space. The Institute has also arranged expeditions involving foreign cosmonauts and has been an active contributor to the project of the International Space Station, answering for medical support for Russian cosmonauts. Another of its staffers, physician and cosmonaut Boris Morukov made a successful flight to the ISS as a member of the Atlantis STS-106 crew to prepare the station for the main crew.
The Institute's other priorities include research on specialized biological space satellites as part of the long-term Bion project, which investigates the influence of weightlessness, space radiation, and other factors of spaceflight on biological systems. Between 1973 and 1997 the Bion space vehicles carried out eleven orbital flights. The tested organisms were brought back to the Earth in capsules. Beginning with the Bion 6, which was launched in
December 1983, each satellite carried two rhesus monkeys.
The Institute has accumulated a wealth of experience in conducting onground experiments to determine the impact of spaceflight on the human organism on its unique testing grounds, using sophisticated equipment. The research has helped tocoastal complex of the Academy's Institute of Oceanology a human reached the depth of 450 metres for the first time in world practice.

The Institute owes its fame in part to its studies of life and work in extreme climatic conditions in geographical zones ranging from mountains to deserts. It has taken part in arranging many Russian and foreign expeditions, providing biomedical support, among them the first Soviet-Bulgarian expedition up Mt. Everest, an expedition to the North Pole, a Soviet-Canadian high-latitude transpolar expedition, wintering at Antarctic research stations, the Man and Desert expeditions in the Karakum, the Metelitsa women's expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctica, and Thor Heyerdahl's voyages on the Ra and Tigris reed boats.
The results of research done by the Institute have been widely used in the medical preparation of athletes for the Olympic Games and world and European championships in soccer, hockey, chess, Towing, bobsledding, cycling, and other sports.
The experience accumulated by space medicine has helped in the development of various branches of terrestrial medical science, providing physicians with wider knowledge about the functioning of the human body. Special loads were used to study the body's reserves in extreme conditions. The Institute has devised a concept that evaluates the state of health rather than symptoms of a disease and focuses on preserving the optimal functioning of the human body. Health, according to this concept, is not so much the absence of obvious malfunction as the body's ability to resists the effects of stress and other extreme situations. In the longelaborate teaching methods and programmes to forecast possible sanitary-hygienic situations and establish the dependence of health on the environment.
The Institute carries out fundamental research and conducts experiments to ensure safety for divers, skin-divers, cais
son workers, subway builders, and other people who operate in conditions of high pressure. Its unique experimental basis makes it possible to simulate a submersion of 2,000 metres in depth.
Under this programme the Institute has carried out submersions and work at a depth of over 300 metres, and at the
term perspective this research should greatly improve the life of all people living on the Earth. Methods that determine the maximum individual loads can help to promote longevity, enhance the effectiveness of human activity, improve overall health, and reduce the chance of disorders and disease.
The Institute has devised a concept that evaluates the state of health rather than symptoms of a disease and focuses on preserving the optimal functioning of the human body. Health, according to this concept, is not so much the absence of obvious malfunction as the body's ability to resists the effects of stress and other extreme situations. In the long-term perspective this research should greatly improve the life of all people living on the Earth

Motion sickness, which creates serious problems for cosmonauts, has been with us since people began to use transportation and is widespread. Boats, carriages, camels, and elephants were the first causes of motion sickness. Nor did the appearance of new forms of trans
portation and the improvement of old ones save people from this sickness. Travel in ships, trains and aircraft had the same effect. And now space sickness has been added. Even healthy people cannot be certain of escaping it. During a storm at sea even seasoned sailors begin to feel its symptoms. Pilots and car drivers may experience no obvious signs of motion sickness when at the helm, but as passengers they can feel sick. Many people suffer from indistinct and latent forms of motion sickness but attribute their discomfort to heat lack of oxygen, unpleasant odours, or poor-quality food.

The extensive research carried out by the Institute on board the Salyut and Mir orbital stations, during the unmanned flights of biological satellites under the Bion program and during on-ground experiments, has revealed the mechanisms governing the changes in the human body that produce space motion sickness. The methods developed to prevent, correct, and stop the effects can be used in ordinary medical practice. For example, pharmacological treatment that prevents or stops motion sickness in space has been found effective in treating motion sickness on earth.
In recent years the Penguin costume has been widely used in treating cerebral palsy in children. The costume, initially designed to create an axial load in condtions of zero gravity, is now used at more than 40 rehabilitation centres in Russia and at two such centres abroad. It has proved effective in even the most difficult, often otherwise fatal, cases. It can also be used to treat motion disorders, ischemia, Parkinson's disease, and other conditions.

In recent years the economy-class syndrome has become increasingly wide-spread. People on long-distance flights have to restrict their movements and remain sitting for long periods. The resulting blood congestion in the leg vessels can prompt formation of thrombi that can clot the arteries supplying the brain and heart with blood, with serious consequences. The Institute has created special bracelets to prevent blood redistribution in zero-gravity conditions. These bracelets along with electric stimulation of muscles help to avoid thrombosis.
The method of dry immersion, now widely used in medical practice, was also initially elaborated by the Institute to study zero-gravity effects. A patient is lowered into a pool in which the water is covered with a waterproof cloth to exclude direct contact of the human body with the water. In cooperation with Austrian physicians the Institute adapted this method for early diagnosis of latent neurological defects. Treatment for massive edemas in cardiology is another area where dry immersion should find wide application. The method requires no pharmacological support.

The Institute likewise does research in telematics, the science that studies processes related to remote collection, distribution, and automatic analysis of information with or without man. Space television medicine makes it possible to provide patients in out-of-the-way areas with the medical advice of specialists working at the leading Russian and foreign centres. It can help create a more effective system of medical education and refresher training, carry out comprehensive research into major problems, and render immediate and targeted medical aid to people in disaster areas. The Institute has been working on multipurpose, universal, simple, and reliable digital systems that would ensure quality diagnosis and treatment in remote areas and extreme conditions.
Space medicine also studies how human functions can be controlled, given certain conditions of work, so as to ensure good professional efficiency while pre-serving physical health. This approach makes space medicine a model for the medicine of the future. In the 21 st century space medicine can be expected to give the majority of people good health, a high level of professional efficiency and a long life, thereby offering unprecedented opportunities for personal fulfilment for the benefit of all.