MICROGRAVITY AS A PROMOTER OF SPACE ANEMIA: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

It is often observed in astronauts who undergo short or long-term space missions, several neuropsychological and physiological changes, including anemia. It is believed that space anemia is due to the exposure of this astronaut to microgravity, where this is capable of causing acceleration in the destruction of red blood cells and also alteration of iron metabolism. The main objective of this integrative literature review was to propose the investigation of the microgravity action in the triggering of spatial anemia. Searches for articles on the topic were carried out at PubMed, Medline and VHL (Virtual Health Library) databases, through the descriptors: Astronauts; Gravitation; Space flight; Anemia; Nutricional requirements, using the Boolean operators “AND” and “OR” to cross them with each other. As inclusion criteria, those in portuguese, english or spanish, published between 2011 and 2022, with full text and open and free access, in addition to complying with the proposed theme, were admitted. The results of this research indicated how microgravity can affect the various organic systems of astronauts who undergo short- or long-term spaceflight, but its exact mechanisms are still not well understood.