Dr. Jauchem's Research on Altitude Decompression Sickness

In the 1980’s, Dr. Jauchem studied altitude decompression.  His research focused on blood factor changes in male and female human subjects during altitude decompression and simulated extravehicular activity.  Some of these studies involved 3-day staged decompression schedules; others included 8 hrs of oxygen "pre-breathing."  In general, blood factor levels remained within normal clinical ranges.  But in two different studies, high cholesterol seemed to be a characteristic of subjects who were prone to the formation of venous gas emboli (i.e., bubbles in the blood).  Dr. Jauchem's previous work continues to be cited in the current literature on the subject (for example, by Cowell et al. [2002], Muth & Tetzlaff [2004], Walsh & Witham [2006], and Duplessis, Fothergill, et al. [2007]).  Tripodi et al. (2004) recently confirmed his previous findings that cholesterolemia may be an aggravating factor for formation of microbubbles during decompression.

Dr. Jauchem's Decompression- and Spaceflight-Related Publications (most with abstracts)

The first photo shows subjects in an altitude decompression chamber, with an observer sitting outside.  The other photo shows one of the Shuttle crews that went up while Dr. Jauchem was working on decompression sickness.  Mission Specialist George "Pinky" Nelson (seated, lower right of photo) was scheduled to perform a space walk, and stopped by the lab a week before his mission.  He thought researchers were still working out the details for him (with only one week to go).  But he didn't need to worry; the work was to be applied to missions AFTER his.

Here are some interesting links:
Astronauts' Home Page
Human Space Flight (updated daily)
(Links verified 3 July 2005)

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