“…by simulating spaceflight conditions through the use of long-duration bedrest, researchers…have found — for the first time — a way to prevent bone loss in a specific region of the hip. Using bedrest as an analog of spaceflight…scientists are at the mid-point of a study in which 22 volunteers remain in bed, in a six-degree, head-down tilt position for 84 days.

The head-down tilt mimics many of the physiologic adaptations astronauts experience during spaceflight, such as bodily fluid shifts toward the head. The bedrest confinement mimics the complete “unloading” of the musculoskeletal system that astronauts feel as they float through space due to the lack of gravity…” Full Slice

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