Cardiology in space, the link between fat and vein function, genetics of heart failure in pregnant women and much, much more.

Highlights from the first day of the British Cardiovascular Society conference in Manchester.

Will the right (cardiovascular) stuff get humans to Mars?

Today was the first day of the British Cardiovascular Society’s annual conference in Manchester. In the first presentation Dr Benjamin Levine asked “Will the right (cardiovascular) stuff get humans to Mars?”

The cardiovascular challenges facing would-be travellers to the Red Planet are huge. Without the pull of gravity providing resistance to their movement astronauts rapidly lose muscle mass and their strength decreases. This muscle lot isn’t just in the arms and legs — without lots of daily exercise the volume of muscle in the heart can also decrease. This muscle loss could impair a space traveller’s movement when they are again exposed to gravity upon landing on mars.

Read more on the BHF Blog