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Johnson, P. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Johnson, P. C..

At least 55 records · Page 3

The Medical Aspects of Space Flight Seen from the Viewpoint of Nuclear Medicine

Radionuclide volume measurements performed on crews of selected Apollo missions indicate the following: (1) Invariably, there is a small drop in red-cell mass of the returning crewmembers; (2) plasma-volume decreases similar to those experienced during bedrest are found in crewmen of short Gemini missions. After longer missions, the plasma-volume decrease is no longer present; (3) extracellular- and total-body water changes prove that spaceflight weight loss includes actual tissue losses; and (4) the loss of total-body exchangeable potassium after the Apollo 15 mission is evidence of increased aldosterone secretion.

Johnson, P. C.

Effects of bedrest and centrifugation of humans on serum thyroid function tests.

Changes in plasma volume and protein concentration have been reported when normal subjects are bedrested or centrifuged. Since thyroid hormones are transported by specific plasma proteins, each of these procedures could be expected to change plasma levels of these hormones. In this study centrifugation of normal healthy human subjects produced an increased concentration of total protein and albumin. When these same subjects were bedrested for six days, no change in total protein, albumin or thyroxine binding globulin were found although there was an eight per cent decrease in plasma volume. Centrifugation and, to a lesser extent, bedrest produced changes in serum T-4 levels and the T-3 test results. The direction of these changes (decreased % T-3 values and increased T-4 levels) indicate that these two situations produce an increased plasma concentration of thyroxine binding sites.

Leach, C. S.

Passenger fluid volumes measured before and after a prolonged commercial jet flight.

Interstitial and intracellular fluid volumes were calculated from measured plasma volume, extracellular volume and total body water of six subjects before and after a 24-hour commercial overseas flight. No change occurred in these spaces or in peripheral hematocrit or total serum protein concentration. The subjective feeling of dehydration and the actual swelling of the lower extremities characteristically found among passengers at the end of a long trip of this type seems to represent a shift in body fluids to the dependent portions of the body rather than water retention or a decrease in the intravascular water volume.

Johnson, P. C.

Biochemical and physiological consequences of the Apollo flight diet.

Six male subjects subsisting on a typical Apollo flight diet for five consecutive days were evaluated for changes in biochemical and physiological status. Laboratory examinations failed to demonstrate any significant changes of the kind previously attributed to weightlessness, such as in serum electrolytes, endocrine values, body fluid, or hematologic parameters.

Hander, E. W.