Applications for oral research in microgravity - lessons learned from burning mouth syndrome and ageing studies

• Published in: Journal of medicine and life Vol. 16; no. 3; pp. 381 - 386
• Main Authors: Dugan, Cosmin, Parlatescu, Ioanina, Popescu, Bogdan Ovidiu, Pop, Corina Silvia, Marin, Mihaela, Dinculescu, Adrian, Nistorescu, Alexandru Ion, Vizitiu, Cristian, Varlas, Valentin Nicolae
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Romania Carol Daila University Foundation 01.03.2023; Carol Davila University Press
• Subjects: Achievement tests; Aerospace medicine; Aging; Astronauts; Biomechanics; Bone density; Burning Mouth Syndrome; Chronic pain; Dental Research; Disease; Dysphagia; Herpes viruses; Humans; Magnetic fields; Medical research; Microgravity; Mouth; Neck; Pain; Physiology; Review; Rodents; Sarcopenia; Sleep; Stroke; Transcranial magnetic stimulation; Weightlessness; Weightlessness - adverse effects; microgravity; ageing; TMS; tDCS; burning mouth syndrome; oral physiology
• ISSN: 1844-122X; 1844-3117
• DOI: 10.25122/jml-2022-0285

The negative consequences of microgravity for the human body are central aspects of space travel that raise health problems. Altered functions of the same systems and treatment options are common points of spaceflight physiology, age-related diseases, and oral medicine. This work emphasizes the convergence of knowledge between pathophysiological changes brought on by aging, physiological reactions to microgravity exposure, and non-pharmacological and non-invasive treatment methods that can be used in spaceflight. Sarcopenia, peripheral nerves alterations, neuromotor plaque in the masticatory muscles, lingual, labial, and buccal weakness, nociplastic pain in oral mucosal diseases, and microgravity, as well as soft tissue changes and pathologies related to chewing and swallowing, corticomotor neuroplasticity of tongue, and swallowing biomechanics, are of particular interest to us. Neurologic disease and other pathologies such as recovery from post-stroke dysphagia, nociplastic pain in glossodynia, sleep bruxism, and obstructive sleep apnea have been studied and, in some cases, successfully treated with non-invasive direct and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) methods in recent decades. An interdisciplinary team from medical specialties, engineering, and biophysics propose an exploratory study based on the parallelism of ageing and space physiology, along with experiment scenarios considering TMS and non-invasive direct methods.