THE LONGITUDINAL STUDY RESULTS OF THE PHYSIOLOGICAL STATUS OF MALE NORTHERNERS - PARTICIPANTS OF THE PROJECT “MARS-500”

Abstract

We studied physiological status and somatic health of 23 male volunteers (age 24-50 yrs) recruited as a "northern" control group for the experiment "Mars-500". The study was performed using standardized methods, established by the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the RAS, using hardware and software complex "Ecosan-2007". Repetitive experiments were carried out in 6 years. Collected data were processed using Biostat and Statistica statistical software. In the course of the study we found certain features in the physiological status and the somatic health of the participants related to their inhabitation in the North. We discovered that our volunteers had decreased somatic health levels according to the Apanasenko scale. Analyzing the heart rate variability in our subjects we observed tension in regulatory systems and a domination of the central regulation circuit over the autonomous circuit. Additionally our subjects showed a deterioration of the hemodynamics regulation under a physical load. After 6 years we observed statistically significant increases in the body mass, the heart rate after physical load, biological age, and significant decrease of the physical health, which indicate the accelerated ageing in the group of surveyed. A number of persons with premorbid status have increased, indicating the increased tension of the regulatory systems and the decrease in the adaptability potential.