BTA. Biologist Kiril Kandilarov Tracks Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition Participants' Stress Levels

SOFIA, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS/BTA.Biologist Kiril Kandilarov, co-founder of the Kandilarov Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, said in an interview for BTA that his team is tracking the stress levels of the participants in the Bulgarian expeditions to Antarctica. The research will become more in-depth each year, he said, noting that it will continue for several years and then it will be seen, based on the collected data, where there is a change and how polar explorers are affected by the stressful environment. .

Kiril Kandilarov will track the different stress levels of the participants in the 32nd Bulgarian expedition to Antarctica. He will compare the results of the research conducted before, during and after the stay of the Bulgarian Antarctic participants on the Ice Continent.

Stress levels blood tests

Kandilarov said that his team is collecting a database for each of the participants in the expedition, and the results of the tests are uploaded to an online platform where the doctor based on Livingston Island can track their condition. He said the results can be checked by both the lab technicians at the medical centre in Bulgaria and the doctor at the Bulgarian Antarctic base.

Kandilarov explained how the participants' blood tests and stress levels were measured before and during the expedition to Antarctica. If some of the indicators need to be more thoroughly examined in Bulgaria, there is a possibility that the blood can be frozen in a special refrigerator at a temperature of minus 20C and transported by the Bulgarian naval research vesselSv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii(RSV 421), he said.

All participants are tested in the same way, and specific tests are run, such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in men and breast cancer testing in women, Kandilarov noted.

Military commanders and RSV 421 officers had the highest stress level. Long travel also affects stress indicators, Kandilarov added.

***

During the 32nd Bulgarian expedition to Antarctica, which started on November 8, 2023, the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is publishing interviews with Antarctic researchers. The Bulgaria-Antarctica BTA's Log again provides coverage of the voyage of the Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii to Antarctica and back and its stay there, as it did during the 31st expedition between December 27, 2022 and May 2, 2023. Back then, only BTA had a correspondent, Daily News Editor Konstantin Karagyozov, who covered the 127-day expedition with text, video and photos during the entire voyage (including across the Atlantic in both directions) and throughout the stay in Antarctica. In June 2023, BTA published in Bulgarian and in English an issue of its LIK magazine "To Antarctica and Back under the Bulgarian Flag" dedicated to the historic expedition.

Again, all of BTA's information on the Bulgarian scientific research in Antarctica and the support provided by the Bulgarian naval research vessel, as well as on the other activities at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base, will be available to all media outlets in Bulgarian and in English on BTA's website in the Bulgaria - Antarctica: BTA's Log section.

BTA has a National Press Club on board the ship and is planning to open a National Press Club at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island.

(This information is being published according to an agreement between Armenpress and BTA.)