BEDREST AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

Physiological deconditioning similar to that seen in spaceflight also occurs on Earth, especially as a consequence of the aging process and also due to bedconfinement and/ or immobilization. Illness or injury in older persons frequently requires hospitalized based care. However, the immobilization that occurs during hospitalisation is itself a major factor in physiological deconditioning and functional decline and in older persons can further contribute to a downward spiral of increasing frailty, dizziness upon standing up (orthostatic intolerance) and increased risk and incidence of falls.
Bedrest is used as a ground-based analog for studying the effects of weightlessness on physiological systems as seen during space flight. As older persons spend up to 80% of their time in hospital bed-confined, bedrest studies can also help in furthering our understanding of the deconditioning process during hospitalization in older persons.
This presentation discusses how knowledge obtained from space research can provide guidance towards optimising health care strategies to tackle bed-confined deconditioning, especially in older persons (”Spaceflight meets Geriatrics!”).