[Problems in the use of alimentary agents to enhance body's resistance of flight personnel to unfavorable occupational factors]. / Problema ispol'zovaniia alimentarnykh sredstv dlia povysheniia ustoichivosti organizma letnogo sostava k vozdeistviiu neblagopriiatnykh faktorov professional'noi deiatel'nosti.

The main directions in the use of nutrients to enhance human resistance to unfavorable occupational factors in order to promote flying health and longevity are considered. The prime tasks of each direction are analyzed and the ways of their solution are identified by taking into account the available approaches.

Main medical results of extended flights on space station Mir in 1986-1990.

During 1986-1990 seven prime spacecrews (16 cosmonauts) have flown on-board the Mir orbital complex. The longest space mission duration was 366 days The principal objectives of the medical tasks were the maintenance of good health and performance of the spacecrews and conducting medical research programs which included study of the cardiovascular, motor, endocrine, blood, immune, and metabolic systems. Results obtained point to the ability of humans to readily adapt to a year-long stay in space and maintain good health and performance. Readaptation had a similar course as after other previous long-term space flights of up to 8 months in duration. Primary body system changes were not qualitatively different from findings after flights aboard the Salyut 6 and 7 space stations. In this case, during and after an 11-12 month flight, body system alterations were even less severe which was a result of adequate countermeasure use, their systematic and creative employment and maintenance of required environments to support life and work in space.

[The effect of a milk-processing product on body nonspecific resistance]. / Vliianie produkta pererabotki moloka na nespetsificheskuiu rezistentnost' organizma.

Laboratory experiments in rats had shown that the standard ration of the structural food concentrate obtained from milk processing could increase the body resistance of animals by 20-30%. The estimation of the influence exerted by the concentrate was made on the basis of hypoxic and radiobiological models. The authors make a conclusion that application of this concentrate for prophylaxis has good prospects for the future.

Selection and biomedical training of cosmonauts.

NASA: The first cosmonauts were selected from the flying personnel. These individuals enjoying good health were more familiar with the conditions and effects of the factors similar to those which are to be found in space missions. In future, because of the complication of tasks to be solved in space missions, an inflight utilization and testing of sophisticated space technology, and conducting a broad spectrum of scientific studies, a demand arose for including cosmonaut-researchers--highly qualified representatives of various scientific specialities--in a flight crew. In this connection, a necessity was created for changing some evaluation criteria to assess the health status of the chosen candidates considering their age and physical fitness. In specific cases, during the selection process some health-improving measures related to professional significance of the candidates for a position of cosmonaut-researcher was carried out. The prime goal of cosmonauts selection is to predict their good tolerance for a particular space mission while maintaining health and adequate performance throughout the flight, completing the flight tasks and assuring successful return to the Earth. Inclusion of cosmonaut-researchers in space crews requires study of an effect of spaceflight factors on reactions of female subjects in simulated ground-based investigations. At present, the preparation of cosmonauts, can be defined as a continuous purposeful process of training, forming and maintaining operational skills, bringing up the crewmembers to acquire professionally significant psychological and physical features essential for effective work to be done in space mission. The preparation of cosmonauts consists mainly of technical, aviation and space, medical-biological and scientific trainings.^ieng

[Prospects for use of computers in the Air Force medical service]. / Perspektivy ispol'zovaniia élektronno-vychislitel'noi tekhniki v interesakh meditsinskoi sluzhby VVS.

The article describes the questions for the formation of the Automated Control Sub-system of the AF Medical service (ACS AF MS) and shows basic trends towards its creation. The authors take into account specific peculiarities of the Air Force activities, as well as the modern standards of automated systems. The ACS AF MS must be integrated to the Joint Automated Control System of the Armed Forces Medical Service. The article gives the main functions of this sub-system, its information and program procedure, computer technique fitting out process for command installations. The main tasks of the whole chain of command of AF Medical service were also analysed.

[The use of aviation transport in providing medical care to the victims in an earthquake focus]. / Ispol'zovanie aviatsionnogo transporta pri okazanii meditsinskoi pomoshchi postradavshim v ochage zemletriaseniia.

2584 wounded were evacuated by helicopters during Armenian earthquake, December, 1988--that was 20% of all hospital cases. But, practically, the possibilities of aviation in Spitak and Leninakan regions were far more extensive. The more effective employment of air transportation for evacuation could be attained by the following measures: organization of a sole command and action coordination between medical service, air command and rescue teams, preliminary rescue planning, efficient organization of triage and evacuation of wounded, special training of medical staff in air evacuation. The extreme conditions of flights in emergency situation of catastrophe or calamity need high working capacity and firm professional skill of flight crews.

Preliminary medical results of the Mir year-long mission.

The basic goal of medical investigations during and after the 366-day mission was to accumulate data about physiological responses to such a long exposure to microgravity. In flight, cardiovascular and other systems were examined in detail and the efficacy of countermeasures used was assessed. After flight, physiological systems were also followed very carefully. According to the preliminary data, the medical results obtained during and after flight give evidence that man can well adapt to a year-long space flight, maintaining good health and adequate work capacity. The readaptation process was very similar to that observed after shorter flights (6-11 months). As compared to former flights, no new or qualitatively different changes in the vital systems of the body were seen. The observations indicate that the duration of manned space missions can be further increased.

[Review of main medical results of a one-year manned space mission on "Mir"]. / Obzor osnovnykh meditsinskikh rezul'tatov godovogo poleta na stantsii "Mir".

The objective of medical investigations during and after the 366-day manned mission was to accumulate information about human responses to long-term effects of microgravity. To do this, cardiovascular and other systems were examined in detail during and after exposure. The results gave evidence that the crewmembers well adapted to the long-term flight effects. Their good health condition and high work capacity were supported by adequate medical procedures. Postflight readaptation developed similarly to what was seen after previous flights of shorter duration (6-11 months). No qualitatively new changes in the physiological systems were detected during or after this mission.

[Results of medical studies in relation to the program of the second space flight on the orbital complex "Mir"]. / Obzor osnovnykh rezul'tatov meditsinskikh issledovanii po programme poleta vtoroi osnovnoi ekspeditsii na orbital'nom komplekse "Mir".

In 1987, the USSR cosmonauts Y. V. Romanenko (326 days), A. I. Laveikin (approximately 176 days), and A. P. Alexandrov (approximately 160 days) made a space mission on Mir. (A. I. Laveikin showed specific cardiovascular responses to exercise tests and was therefore replaced with A. P. Alexandrov). The most important medical result of this mission was that Yu. V. Romanenko, who remained in orbit for 3 months longer than anyone before, working intensively, did not exhibit any changes that were qualitatively different from those observed in previous long-duration space flights. The health status and work performance of other crewmembers were also good, although each of them showed individual responses. The postflight recovery period went smooth.

[Aviation support of measures for rendering medical care to the victims of natural disasters, accidents and catastrophes]. / Aviatsionnoe obespechenie meropriiatii po okazaniiu meditsinskoi pomoshchi postradavshim pri stikhiinykh bedstviiakh, avariiakh i katastrofakh.

The unpredictable character of natural calamities and technological accidents makes some specific demands on the organization and planning of the wide range complex of social measures to abolish their awful and tragic consequences. Analysing and summarizing the reviews and reports of international congresses on the emergency and catastrophic medicine and their own experience, the authors accentuate attention on the advantages and capabilities of aerial transport in delivering of medical personnel, all necessary equipment to the zones of mass sanitary losses and its really essential role in rapid aeromedical evacuation of injured. The authors scrutinize in details the structural scheme of organization of patient's search-and-rescue work and suggest, that main principles of planning and management of search-and-rescue operations in aviation could be applied in a decision of problems, which arise in medical assistance to the victims of the natural disasters and accidents.

[Medico-psychological problems in guaranteeing flight safety today]. / Mediko-psikhologicheskie voprosy obespecheniia bezopasnosti v sovremennykh usloviiakh.

At the present time flight safety can be provided only if aviation medicine requirements are taken into consideration. Maintenance of good health, high performance and professional longevity of the flight and ground crewmen requires that flight surgeons and aerospace medicine specialists revise their position and eliminate various shortcomings in their work. Those latter include: lack of data about correlations between health problems and decline of performance, risk factors and professional longevity; inadequate use of systemic analysis for evaluating man-machine interactions; low priority of the investigations needed to organize proper prophylaxis of diseases. The paper discusses proposals and suggestions with respect to the new types and methods of medical support of flight safety at the current and advanced levels of development of aviation technology.

[Blood lipids and the incidence of hyperlipidemia in pilots]. / Lipidy krovi i chastota giperlipidemii u letnogo sostava.

The content of cholesterol and triglycerides was measured in healthy pilots. Over 1500 subjects were examined and age-related norms of the parameter were established. They were compared with published data. Physiological variations of cholesterol and triglycerides were related to age, height and body weight. The authors developed a method for diagnosing hyperlipidemia based on the agreement or disagreement between experimentally measured and theoretically calculated values. The authors maintain that hyperlipidemia can be diagnosed if the difference between the real and expected values is over 10%. The authors calculated the incidence of hyperlipidemia in all subjects examined (over 2100) and found that it was high: even in pilots of the age group 20-29 years hyperlipidemia occurred in 30% of subjects.