Gastric emptying during long-term bed rest head-down tilt: Effects of dietary sodium

Long term human space flights as operated since the early 70s of the last century have resulted in significant weight loss of many astronauts (“space anorexia“) but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Bedrest studies with a 6° head down tilt (BR-HDT) are common ground-based models to simulate the effects of Zero-G on the human body. Methods: Eight healthy male subjects (age: 26.12±3.94 years) participated in the study at the German Aerospace Research Facilities (DLR, Cologne, Germany) on two different occasions (M1: October 2005; M2: March 2006). On each occasion, 4 days of adaptation and baseline a…