A Spine study found lumbar spine paraspinal muscle atrophy in astronauts after long-term spaceflight.
Here are six things to know.
1. NASA crewmembers have a 4.3 times higher risk of herniated intervetebral discs compared with the general and military aviator population. The greatest risk occurs during the first year after a mission.
2. Microgravity exposure during long-duration spaceflights leads to an approximately five centimeter lengthening of body height, spinal pain and skeletal deconditioning.
3. In this prospective case series, researchers imaged six NASA crewmembers with a 3 Tesla MRI preflight, immediately postflight and 33 to 67 days after landing.
4. Paraspinal lean muscle mass decreased from 86 percent of the total PSM cross-sectional area down to 72 percent immediately after the mission.
5. Astronauts had significantly lower lean muscle fractional content compared with preflight values despite experiencing recovery of 68 percent of the postflight loss in the six weeks after the mission.
6. Lumbar IVD heights were not significantly different at any point.
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