[Study of mineral saturation of lumbar vertebral bones in th course of systemic exposure to +Gz accelerations].

Of a pressing aspect of pilots' exposure to high levels of head-to-seat accelerations (+Gz) is the high risk of vertebral traumatization. In this connection, mineral saturation of the lumbar vertebral in test subjects systematically exposed to +Gz accelerations on centrifuge over two months and pilots of highly manouevrable fighters has been investigated. Results of the study point it out that systematic flight g-loads bring about an increase in vertebral bone mineralization. Thus, following a series of +Gz exposures of the test subjects the integrated content of mineral substances and the density of structural composition of vertebrals Z2-Z4 showed the average rises by 4.6% and 4.15%, respectively; however, the same parameters in the pilots were higher than in the control group by 8.8% and 10.6%, respectively. The paper discusses possible mechanisms underlying these phenomena.