Musculoskeletal response to space flight

Abstract

This chapter will focus on the effects of microgravity on the structural integrity of bone, muscle, and connective tissue, with an emphasis on the biomechanical changes, both as cause and effect. Countermeasures to these adverse effects will be discussed. Functional musculoskeletal disorders that occur as a result of adaptation to microgravity and subsequent return to Earth are also described. Further discussion of biochemical markers of bone and muscle turnover can be found in Chaps. 27 and 13. © 2008 Springer-Verlag New York.